shall bow themselves and the grinders thy teeth I mean shall cease and those that looke out at the windowes even those very eyes of thine shall be darkened when friends will be troublesome unto thee thy servants or those that shall keep thee will not be able to please thee when speaking will spend thee and silence grieve thee and thy wife and children those pieces of thy selfe in another kind weeping about thee will torment thee and when thy feet will begin to grow cold and thy face to waxe pale thy lips and mouth to retire thine eyes to pitch thy tongue to faile thy teeth to close thy breath to faint thy heart to beat and ake and when the memory the magazine of the soule as * Manchestâ—r al mondo one aptly termes it will recount all that thou hast done thought or spoken and Satan yea many devils and malignant spirits will in this thy last assault with combine forces surround thy bed and lay to thy charge what thou now slightest even thy most abhorred underprizing and undervaluing of the Lord Christ and thy wilfull neglect of a number of golden seasons and precious duties besides an infinite multitude of other most grievous and haynous abominations youthfull lusts and execrable pollutions extortions oathes cursings revilings and the like which will most bitterly aggravate the unexpressable * Nâ—m dolor est sâ—lutio continui Curâ—us de seâ—s l. 2. c. 4 So that the dissolution of soul and body most nearly compacted must needs be exceeding great paine of death who in the meane while will put thy whole dying body into a most grievous and coldest sweat as an infallible * P. Boaysiuan in suo thâ—aâ—ro mundi l. 3 p. 147. evidence that nature is now vanquishâ—d yea will be sure to batter chiefly thy once strongest castle the heart straightening and dâ—stressing it round on every side and burâ—ing the very strings of it to make the last fatall breath and to fetch out by force and maine strength thy poore and trembling soule and to deliver it if thou dye out of Christ which God forbid unto his fellow 〈…〉 death to be tormented for 〈…〉 ever For therefore it is 〈…〉 12 20. thou foole this night 〈…〉 be required of thee * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈…〉 require thy soule of thee 〈…〉 who they be thinke ye 〈…〉 death and the second one succeeding as it were and seconding the other 1 Seriously and therefore I beseech you 2 Freqâ—eÌ„tly think but seriously and frequently on this your last sicknesse and upon your latter end which is approaching and be not so blockish as formerly you have been For then as the little Bee which so soone as flowers spring goeth abroad vieweth the gay diapery and the variety of the sweetest flowers growing in the coloured fields fraights her thighes maketh a curious combe and so betimes hoards up honey in the pleasant summer against the cold sad and troublesome winter so you cannot chuse but take this golden opportunity which God in mercy offereth you causing the most sweetest rose of Sharon even Jesus Christ himselfe blessed for ever to spring as it were and to appeare Here before you I say you cannot but goe forth now forthwith use the means formerly shewed that you may sucke provide and get I will not say a little corruptible honey out of this my text which is Christs owne speech but Christ himselfe who is sweeter then honey though it be made never so pleasant with the most fragrant roses against that most heavy most grievous and sorrowfull winter of your latter end which is to come The Lord make you thinke upon it that you may not neglect or for-slow this most pleasant summer day of your most gracious visitation in the which the Lord Christ doth so blessedly appeare unto you in his blessed word and proffers himselfe unto you so lovingly and pleasantly like a rose full fresh and faire in the field SECT 14. Of Basenesse the third Let. 3. AS some base people will not gather roses to bestrow their cloathes and roomes with the same 3 Let. Basenesse though they smell most odiously and abominably because they can endure any sent and make no reckoning of it being used to it so carnall men and women are so base and sordid as that they will not get Christ because they are so accustomed to the filthy smell of sin as that they doe scarse perceive it themselves though a stranger to them who is not used to such an abominable sent doe smell it quickly and therefore I pray you be sensible of this basenesse and remaine it by labouring to be sensible of those odious smels which your filthy hearts doe continually exhale and send forth as it is written that every imagination of the thoughts of mans heart by nature is onely evill continually Gen. 6.6 and that out of the heart proceed evill thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witnesse blasphemies which defile a man Mat. 15.19 20. Doe ye not smell these abominations brethren I speake but to the guilty nay should ye not perceive them how can you chuse every body that knowes you cannot but take notice of you how basely you carry your selves and how strangely you be overswayed with fiercenesse and anger and with monstrous pride which doth even stinke before God and man and sometimes with filthy avarice and other times with that detestable sinne of drunkennesse and therefore seeing others note you can you not and should you not observe it in your selves being privy to your very hearts and most secret and reserved imaginations which others know not so well as you Well you know that â—f one doe stirre in a dunghill and put it abroad it will stink so much more then it did before so as that one must needs smell it and I doubt not but if you shall stirre but a little in this matter 1. â—ansacking your hearts and 2. ripping up your lives and sitting them exactly you shall smell more of your odious sinnes then ever you did and therefore search your selves and so labour to come to the sight and sense of all your abominations that you may get Christ to sweeten you as roses doe sweeten our houses And here looke back a little I pray you to the second branch of the second generall use tending to conviction For I confesse that there is such a neare affinity between this let and that use as that one may be said to embrace to re-imbrace the other and that both agree in one I meane in one end principally For as there I did labour to make men see that they are out of Christ by the ill savour of their abominable thoughts words and works to fit them for Christ and for the meanes to be used for the getting of Christ that they may see what need they have of Christ so here I strive againe to make men sensible if I can of that same
likewise most happily and wonderfully delivered and made whole though not in the same houre when you will yet most certainly when For God considereth all times of thy life and still chuseth the best and fittest to answer thy prayers in Goodwin ibid. God will which clause leadeth me to an other rule which I must adde in the next place As for this I have urged it so much the more because I know ye need it most and are like to gain by it most the Lord giving a blessing to your endeavours and mine which I humbly and heartily crave at his mercifull hands 6. Again 6 Rule as they that take bodily Physick must have patience to waite till it work so you having taken or applyed Christ that most medicinall Rose of Sharon and prayed most patiently waite with blessed David Psal 40.1 till he incline his eare unto you and help you For therefore it is written He that beleeveth namely in Christ shall make no hast a Hieron in loc or must mak◠no hast namely b Tremell in loc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of impatience so as to c Luther flie as one translates the * For God sheweth his wisdome and love as much in giving the thing it self Goodwin in his returne of prayers p. 146. originall Esa 28.16 and hence it is that one of the ancient who by Davids blessed mans Psal 1.1 understandeth Christ himself observeth in him well that he is a tree of life bringing forth his fruit in due season vers 3. d Non importune sed tempore suo Hilar. in psa to 2. mihi p. 16. that is in his own time which himself cals his e houre saying to his blessed mother mine houre is not yet come namely to turn water into wine Iohn 2.4 so that you must not be dismaid though he do not deliver you by and from your sins and crosses when you cry concluding that he will never help or heale you because he answers not your expectation when you would No but as good old Simeon waited a long time for the consolation of Israel till he met his much desired Saviour most happily and joyfully in the Lords Temple where also he did embrace him with the most heartie and dearest embraces of his tenderest affection both in the arms of his blessed body and with the arms of his most precious faith having been formerly assured by a divine revelation from the spirit of God that he shovld not see death before he had seen the Lord Christ Luk. 2.26 so you are to waite in like manner for that consolation ease and help which you do or shall desire till Christ send it in his own time having been heretofore sufficiently promised in the like manner that sooner or later before you be unmanned by death and dissolved you shall have as much help from the Lord Christ as is needfull and * For the Lord doth all things in weight and measure and hath likewise appointed a certaine measure of grace and faith and comfort inwardly to be enjoyed Rom. 12.3 Ephe. 4. ◠and a measure of common blessings outwardly to be received Pro. 30.8 convenient for you which securitie or promise ought to content you And therefore I say again waite For the vision is yet for an appointed time but in the end it shall speak and not lye though it tarry waite for it because it will surely come it will not tarry saith God himself not I Habak 2.3 If you aske me what time the Lord doth usually help I answer 1. When you need his help most being ready to sink Mat. 8.24.26 2. When you are most fit for it being humbled Esa 57.15 So that accordingly you may expect his help sooner or later 7. 7 Rule As they that take corporall Physick keep their chamber so must every one of you taking or having taken Christ the Rose of Sharon as spirituall Physick for the good of his poor soul Keepe the chamber or closet of his heart with all diligence as it is written Keep thy heart with all diligence or with all * omni custodia vigilantia custodie and watchfulnesse as the originall more emphatically importeth Prov. 4.23 Keeping fast your doores I meane your senses and not suffering any cold or infectious aire to come in If you aske me how shall we do to keepe our hearts thus with all diligence Quest I answer Solut. 1. Direction 1. Stopping every little hole or occasion that may let in the least coldnesse 2. Keep fast your doores 2 Direction that is your senses not suffering any coldnesse or infectious aire that is infecting objects or matters to come in Iob 38.1 Psal 39.1 3. Pray God to assist you herein 3 Direction as David did saying Set a watch O Lord before my mouth keep the doore of my lips You may say moreover keepe mine eyes also ô Lord and the doores of mine eares and watch my heart that I may neither take a cold nor any other infection I humbly beseech thee 4. If those domestikes 4 Direction that are with thee in the chamber that is those sinfull motions which are * Math. 15.19 bred in the heart do offer to open thy doores and to go out and so to let in the coldnesse and infection which ever followeth them 1. observe 2. question 3. check and 4. restraine them forthwith and suffer them not to range so like Dina Gen. 34.1 and to go in and out Nay 5. shut them out of your doores quite and let them stay or lodge no longer within you remembring the words of the Lord Ier. 4.14 How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee or be so approved tolerated entertained as guests that are most welcome and are even intreated to stay day after day night after night and so do stay and continue with the entertainer as the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whose root is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pernoctare hospitari manere commorari originall doth most significantly imply so much and more too then I can well expresse here or have expressed heretofore touching the same matter in the second generall use upon another occasion Lastly 8 Rule Taking or having taken Christ that most medicinall and operative Rose of Sharon you are as patients to keep close to the fire or rather to three severall fires by 1. 1 Fire Thinking much and often on that most formidable fire of hel which shall never go out Esa 66.24 * Namgehennam semper timens nunquam in ge hennae ignem cadet semper hoc castigatus metu Chrys hom 5. ad pop Antioc p 48. 2 Fire That so you may keep down your bodies of sin as Paul did 1 Corinth 9.27 being ever most carefull to be even universally obsequious and obedient to Gods sacred Law 2. By musing ever on the word of truth and promise with holy David Psal 119.97 as an other fire
evill motions when 5 Evidence being tried and provoked afterward we can stand out like a Rocke unmovable and impenetrable and doe not as we would do if it were not for Christs dwelling in us by his holy and blessed Spirit Gal. 5.17 wherein such gracious soules mainly differ from all unbeleeving persons who being without Christ though they may keep in and seeme to have overcome their evill motions yet will be ever ready to discover themselves in time of tryall and provocation for they are but like Leopards chained and kept in a den who being let loose and meeting with a prey will manifest the cruelty of their natures forthwith See Ier. 13.23 So as that thereby we may easily conceive how fitly also even then when they doe not breake out they are resembled to an Oven heated by the Baker Hos 7.4 that is the devill who is the baker that heats their hearts so as that like an oven stopped they are so much the hotter within their hearts doe even burne with envy or pride and wrath and lust and the love of money 6. VVe may understand that evill motions reigne not in us 6 EvideÌ„ce though they rage when we doe lament them after we have been foiled and vanquished by them at any time giving way to them and taking pleasure in any of them against the study bent and purpose of our hearts Like Tamar who though she had lost her virginity being forced by her brother Ammon but secretly and closely in a close roome yet did afterward most lamentably bewaile and bemoane the same See Rom. 7.23 24. how the Apostle himselfe who being forced like Tà mar 2 Sam. 13.19 and brought into Captivity to the Law of Sin by sin dwelling in him and prevailing now and then against him in his mind and soule did bemoan himselfe saying O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death and how he did prevaile for all this and was respectively delivered as he implyeth in the words following I thanke God through Iesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind that is the part regenerate I my selfe serve the Law of God but with the flesh that is the part unregenerate the Law of Sin 2. Those that have Christ in their hearts truly 2 Marke generall may know it by the very smell and sweetest fragrancy which he sends forth out of the heart into every part and member of the body So as that their thoughts must needs even smell as it were of Christ Eph. 4.29 most sweetly and their words likewise and workes must be most pleasant gracious and savoury For if there be but corruptible and withering roses in a close roome you know how sweetly and strongly all that roome doth smell of roses how much more must the hearts and the lives of those be most sweet and fragrant who have and carry within them the Lord Jesus Christ himselfe that sweetest rose of Sharon whose s V. stimenta ejâ—s sunt sancti ejus electi ejus tâ—ta Ecclesia ejus Aug. in loc garments smell all of Myrrh and Aloes and Cassia Psal 45.8 VVhen Polycarpus was to be sacrificed unto the Lord by fire by the hands of his most bloudy persecutors who not beeing able to burne him because the fire would not touch him did at last kill him with the sword as he was standing in the midst of the fire all resplendent r Euseb Ecc. hist l. 4 c. 14. like shining burnisht gold his body did send forth such an odoriferous and sweet savour as they of Smyrna record it in an Epistle of theirs as if it had been perfumed with incense or some other fragrant and aromaticall Essence Now though every other ordinary Christians body doe not yeeld such a miraculous odor yet you may read as much in effect of a most gracious perfume which the precious soules of all Christs beleeving members his mysticall Spouse doe send forth in a most sweet and pleasant manner Cant. 3.6 Who is this that commeth out of the wildernesse like pillars of smoake perfumed with myrrhe and frankincense with all the powders of the Merchants Marke Who is this saith Christ the coelestiall bridegroome of his faire Spouse the Church and her members That commeth out of the wildernesse that is u Greg. in loc out of this world which is like a wildernesse Like pillars of smoake that is having an aspiring and ascending mind Perfumed with myrrhe and frankincense and with all the powders of the Marchant that is being perfumed and sweetned with all the most fragrant and sweet smelling graces of the Spirit of Christ who being the Merchant here spoken of doth so perfume and grace the same SECT 4. Conviction for such as want Christ 2. THis point may serve to convince the Consciences of all carnall 2 This point serves to convince the conscience civill and hypocriticall men and women that Christ is not in them For Christ is like a Rose wheresoever he is yeelding a most sweet and fragrant sent but they doe even stinke by reason of their abominable thoughts words and deeds Like the snuffe of an extinct candle as the Apostle doth mostaptly describe them Tit. 1.15 affirming that such as are unbeleevers are also abominable or execrable odious and stinking-persons as the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e malâ— oâ—â—tes a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. foetor extinctae lucernae originall plainly sheweth Say therefore or thinke what you will of your estates you that are so bad I must needs tell you to your faces that Christ is not in you For if Christ did inhabit in you your thoughts words and workes would be as sweet and savory as Christ is that most sweet and fragrant rose of Sharon but now thy words and works O thou prophane Esauite are detestable and though thou hypocrite and civill honest man make a faire shew without and professe much yet are thy very inward parts reserved imaginations and closest thoughts most execrable for they smell altogether and stinke of hellish pride and devillish envy of filthy lusts and dunghill covetousnesse and therefore who will beleeve any of you that Christ that is in you you your selves will never beleeve a man though he should sweare that there are roses in his closet or chest if when he openeth it you smell in stead of roses nothing but dung and stinking carrion Now this is just your case O ye carnall civill and hypocriticall men and women you may thinke or say Christ is in you and so consequently that you have saving faith in Christ but when you doe but open your mouthes and disclose your thoughts unlocking the chests and closets of your hearts by your deeds then we can smell nothing but the ill savour of boasting or lying or rayling or cursing or banning or swearing or coveting or lusting or ryoting which stinks worse then any dung And when you keep in such stuffe and
able to penetrate and reach to the soule For the operation of roses is but physicall and not metaphysicall corporall and not spirituall but Christ the rose of Sharon comforteth the very soule of a man as you may see Psal 103.3 where David communs with his soul saying Who healeth all thy diseases mark all thy diseases O my soule and in Esa 66.13 where God and so consequently Christ also who is God promiseth us most graciously that he will comfort us as one whom his mother comforteth marke as a f Quae amore liberos in sinu nutriens omnem superat charitatem Hâ—yme in loc mother who most affectionately comforteth the very soule of her childe whereas the rose doth but comfort the body and therefore how ravishing and how great must needs be that comfortablenesse which is in the Lord Christ the comforts of a mother we know are exceeding great and sweet and doe a childe more good then honey or sugar And such are Christs nay I dare say as insinitely greater as himselfe being an infinite God is infinitely greater in compassion then any mother See Esa 49.15 Can a woman forget her sucking childe that she should not have compassion on the son of her wombe yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee 4. 4 Disproportion And though roses do sometimes revive men being faint yet can they not take away the sting of death it selfe nor comfort us after death though many doe bestrow the dead with roses but Christ can doe both 1. He can nay he hath taken away the sting of death as it is written O death I will be thy plague Hos 13.14 O grave I will be thy destruction repentance shall be hid from mine eyes or though comfort be now hid from mine eyes saith the * Lyra in loc Prophet for the Hebrew is Nocham which signifieth comfort as well as repentance and therefore it is so translated both by Saint Ierome and Doctor Luther And hence it was that Bainham that blessed Martyr uttered those most comfortable words in the midst of the fire * O ye papists M Foxe behold you looke for miracles and here you may see a miracle for in this fire I feele no more paine then if I were in a bed of Downe but it is unto me as a bed of roses This he speakes when his legs and armes were halfe burnt 2. But especially after death Christ doth comfort the precious soules of his giving unto them the crowne of life Rev. 2.10 and comforting them in Abrahams bosome Luke 16.25 which is a place of blisse and everlasting wealth and of g Cyril Alex hom pasc 11 unexpected delights even h Origen Dial 2 contra Marcion heaven it selfe 5. 5 Disproportion Other roses can doe us no good in losses and reproaches and in other externall afflictions though they may comfort our heatts in some diseases but Christ can and doth solace his then too as you may read Acts 5.41 how the blessed Apostles did even rejoyce when they were most reproachfully used and shamefully beaten because they were worthy to suffer shame for Christs name So Heb. 10.34 you may note how those beleeving Hebrewes did even joyfully endure the spoiling of their goods The like is reported of Paulinus Bishop of Nola that having lost all at the taking of Nola he uttered these words Let me not be afflicted and vexed O Lord for gold or silver for thou art all in all unto me and of the people of i Aug. de Civ Dei l. 1. c. 10. k M. Foxe in his Acts and Monuments Merindol that when they saw their houses burnt before their eyes they rejoyced at it greatly being honoured so highly as to suffer that losse for Christ his sake who inabled and caused them so to doe If any of you that are held to be of the number of Gods people shall object Obiect 1 that say you can find no such comfortablenesse in Christ as is spoken of here I answer Answ That such as are held to be of the number of Gods people are of two sorts 1. Some are Christians in shew 2. some in deed The former are such as have a form of godlinesse 1 ChristiaÌ„s in shâ—w and deny the power thereof loving their pleasures sports lusts pride money friends or belly more then God 2 Tim. 3.4 Now if some of you be such then never complaine or wonder that you can find no such comfortablenesse in Christ for you are dead like the widow 1 Tim. 5.6 which living in pleasures is dead while she liveth and as the Rev. 3.1 Angell of the Church of Sardis So you have a name that you live being called Professors of the Gospell but you are dead Now though one should even fill the mouth of a dead corps and cover it all over with roses yet can that same take no comfort in them because it selfe is void of life So you what comfort can you take in Christ the rose of Sharon though we doe even fill your eares with the preaching of Christ seeing that you be dead and destitute of the life of Christ and that Christ himselfe hath said that whosoever loveth father and mother more then him is not worthy of him and that he that loveth sonne or daughter more then him is not worthy of him Matt. 10.37 Whereupon it followeth that all you who love worse things then father and mother sonne or daughter even base and filthy lusts and bosome sinnes more then Christ must needs be unworthy also of Christ himselfe and so consequently of the comforts of Christ which he never can or will throw away and bestow on such unworthy hypocrites and selfe-lovers as you are who have nothing but a meer forme and shadow of piety without any substance or reality and therefore my advise and counsell is that you do labour for the power and life of godlinesse and prefer the love of Christ before all things if you desire to finde that comfortablenesse which is in Christ or else never look for it 2. 2 ChristiaÌ„s indeed As for Christians indeed they are of 2. sorts againe 1. some somewhat carelesse 2. others very carefull 1. 1 Carelesse Christians Some are somewhat carelesse sometimes I meane 1. of their dyet wherein they doe not keep a golden meane and 2. of their apparell wherein they shew too much conformity to the monstrous fashions of this world and 3. of their sleep wherein they take up too much time and 4. of their worldly cares unto which they give too much way and 5. of their company which they doe not so distinguish as to avoid those which are most dangerous enemies to their poore foules and 6. of their duties which they doe not so heedfully performe as they ought daily prayer I meane and holy meditations and deep humiliations for daily sins and continuall applyings of Christ and the like Such carelesse Christians were the Corinthians once 2
Cor. 7.11 as the Apostle implyeth when he saith Behold this selfe same thing that you sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulnesse it wrought in you saith he to shew that there was none such in them before and that they did not grieve so before Now if some of you that cannot find so much comfortablenesse in Christ as was spoken of here be such then never wonder at it for what comfort can a man take in roses if he will not take the paines to fetch them or to apply them or if he be asleep how can he smell them though his chambers were full of roses well may others that wake be refreshed with the sent of them and take delight in them but he cannot so long as he sleepeth So you that are so carelesse what comfort can ye take or find in Christ as long as you will not take the paines to draw what comfort you can from Christ in that carefull manner as you ought yea are in a manner asleep in that you be so drowsie dead dull backward and carelesse in the doing of your duties and doe so seldome humble and afflict your soules for your manifold exorbitancies slips failings and grievous sins God comforteth those that are cast downe saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 7.6 but you are not so dejected * TameÌ„ quod divinas cousolationâ—s non habemus aut rarius sentimus nos in culpasumâ—s quia coÌ„punctioneÌ„ cordis non quaerimus Tho à Kempis de Imit Christi l. 1. c. 21. and therefore what wonder is it to heare that you are not comforted So that I for my part doe not intend to cast away the precious comforts of Christ upon you that are so carelesse preaching comfort to Gods people for you are not capable of comfort in this case and we ministers wrong both our selves and you too when we doe promiscuously pronounce and preach comfort to Gods people For then you carelesse ones perswading your selves to be Gods people as you may be doe snatch at such comforts and apply them though you doe not feele them nor indeed are then fit for them and therefore I must and will distinguish between you that are carelesse and those that are carefull telling you that you for your part being so secure and undejected you may not nor must not looke for any sensible comforts from Jesus Christ the rose of Sharon as long as you are and shall be so carelesly disposed But secondly 2 Carefull ones as for those that are carefull among us of every thing and humble themselves much continually and are dejected and yet find or feele no comfort for the present they must not therefore be disheartened because that he which should comfort them is farre from them as they conceive for they may take comfort in this that either 1. They have in times past sate downe under Christs shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to their taste that is that they have tasted of the sweet comforts of Christ wherewith he is wont to refresh young beginners especially in their minority and in the infancy of their conversion Cant. 2.3 2. Or if they have not yet been made partakers of the sweet consolations that are in Christ they may comfort themselves in this that such comforts belong to them and that in the * That is When you shall have most need of it either when the spirit would taile else without it Esa 57.16 Or against some great affliction approaching or some great encounter with the world for the name of Christ Goodwin in his returne of prayers p. 152. Lords good time they shall feele them as he who upon a great stoppage not being able to smell roses may and shall smell them in time when that stoppage is gone For so it is written Esa 54.6 7 8. the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and a wife of youth when thou wast forsaken saith thy God for a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee In a little wrath I hid my face from thee but with everlasting kindnesse will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer But when it will be that he tels us not but keepeth it to himselfe and therefore you must live by faith you that complaine of the want of comfort and stay upon God even in the want of comfort as a man who in the want of bodily strength stayeth himselfe upon a staffe * Esa 50.10 for so saith God Who is among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darknesse and hath no light Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Esa 50.10 the * baculus sic appellatus quod illi ho mo inmtatur originall is let him leane upon his God as upon a staffe which will be a comfort to him for the present by a gracious supportation of him in the want of comfort and in the end by a most sweet and sensible distillation of comfort into his sad and pensive soule as it is written Thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me Psal 23.4 that is as * Chrys in loc one of the Ancient expounds that place thy Christ who is my rod and my staffe in that he came in the old age of the world doth comfort me as a staffe which is a comfort and supporter to old age A Note Where note by the way that Christ is a staffe to comfort old age that is such as wait with old Simeon for the consolation of Israell Luke 2.25 and make not too much hast to have comfort by and by and hence it is that some of the most eminent Saints of God felt most comfort a little before their departure in the very last age and end of their dayes heare their owne words Deare wife * Foxe in his Acts and Monuments p. 1361. said M. Sanders that blessed Martyr riches I have none to leave behind me but that treasure of tasting how sweet Christ is to hungry consciences whereof I feele a part I bequeath unto you I am merry and I trust I shall be merry maugre all the devils in hell And when * Ier. Burroughes in his Grac. spirit p. 77. alleadgeth this speech Oecolampadius lay sick and his friends did aske him whether the light did not offend him he clapt his hands on his breast and said Hic sat lucis est here is light enough meaning comfort enough So * Edward Bagshaw in the life and death of M Bolton p. 34. blessed M. Bolton said to some of his parish that came to visit him when he lay a dying I am by the wonderfull mercies of God as full of comfort as my heart can hold and feele nothing in my soule but Christ c. If you shall reply 2 Ob. that you feare you shall never feele the like
you of five things as namely 1. Where this rose is to be sought 2. Where with it is to be taken 3. When it is to be sought 4. Wherefore or upon what grounds 5. What impediments must be removed that it may be sought and taken For the first I say that Christ is to be sought for 1. In the Law be sought for 2. In the Gospell 1. This Rose of Sharon is to be sought for in the Law preached 1 Dilatation of this use for so saith the Apostle Wherefore the Law was our Schoolemaster to bring us to * Christ Gal. 3.24 Whereupon it followeth that as he who will gather roses must seeke for them among * Nam â—osa ex spina nascitur Plâ—n nat bist l. 21 thornes So he that will come to Christ must come to him by the pric king thornes of the law as those converts Acts 2.37 who were sore pricked in their hearts before they could be so happy as to enjoy Christ and the reason of this assertion is most evident and plain For as long as we are not to some purpose terrified by the law and made sensible of our owne misery we will not care for Christ even as scarce any body would have cared much for the brazen serpent lifted up in the wildernesse if it had not been for the fierie serpents which having stung men unto death compelled them to looke up so we would hardly make account of Christ if the terrours of the law like fierie serpents should not sting us to death and make us afraid of death death I meane everlasting Simile Or if you will take this comparison Men by nature are like mariners passengers in a ship which is in great danger not far from a great rocke as long as they have the least hope that they may escape and be saved in the ship they will not leap into the sea and swim but when they are told by the skilfull shipmaster that there is no hope of life unlesse they doe so then they will rather swim and try whether they may come to the rocke there to be saved then die and sinke in the ship So as long as men in the state of nature which is like a broken ship very daÌ„gerous may have any hope to go up to heaven do well enough abiding where they are i.e. in the state of open prophanenes or civil honesty or pharasaicall hypocrisie and keeping their bosome-sins they will not wagge one foot to goe to Christ thus as they ought forgoing and forsaking all their darling delights and sinfull profits honours and contentments but when once they are absolutely and roundly told by that skilfull schoolemaster or shipmaster whose name is Law that if they abide in that state and forsake not their forlorne hopes and sweetest sins which are like greatly desired goods in a broken ship they must perish and sinke and be engulphed in that formidable lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 then then will they rather doe so then dye rather swim to Christ who is like a * 1 Cor. 10. â—â— rocke upon any termes then perish with their goods I should say profits pleasures honours in hell for evermore And therefore if any of you all that want Christ doe in good earnest desire to get Christ Let him not refuse to heare the law and to thinke on it seriously that so he may be thereby terrified and urged effectually to goe to Christ even speedily that he may not be damned eternally But hereof more is to be said hereafter This is but to make way for them 2. This rose of Sharon is to be sought in the Gospell preached 2 In the Gospell which is like a field for its largenesse because therein Christ offereth himselfe to as many as will come to him saying Come to me all you that travell and are heavy laden and I will ease you Matt. 11.28 so as that he might well compare himselfe here to a rose in Sharon field which is not so inclosed and reserved as your garden roses are but may be had of any that travelleth by and hath a mind to it for doe but marke his speech and you shall see it Come unto me all ye that travell marke all as if he should say I doe not either reserve my selfe to my selfe or deny my selfe to any that would have me No but I am ready and willing to ease and to embrace even with the dearest embraces of my love any poore travelling soule that comes to me and therefore come hither all ye poore sinners that groane under the burden of your sins and seeke Christ in this sweet and gracious promise for here you shall undoubtedly find him he cannot go from it because he is faithfull SECT 9. Faith must be gotten for the taking of Christ 2. ONly I must tell you 2 Dilatatiâ— of this use Get faith that as he will plucke a rose must have a hand to plucke it with so you must have the hand of faith wherewith you may and must lay hold on Christ beleeving verily that according to his faithfull promise he will be a Saviour unto you and refocillate you and ease your poore soules of the most heavy and grievous burden of sin and that you shall have rest by him here and hereafter eternally in the heavens See Iohn 6.37 Him that commeth to me I will in no wise cast out But how shall we get faith Quest Sol. I answer Christ himselfe is the author of it Heb. 12.2 and he works it by his word and spirit Rom. 10.17 1 Cor. 12.9 and therefore goe to him by prayer and cast your selves downe before the throne of his grace both before and after the hearing of his word and beg of him that as he hath given you hands to take your meat with and to gather and plucke roses for the good of your bodies in sicknesse that you may live the life of nature so he would give you the hand of faith wherewith you may take and apprehend him being that most sweet and medicinall rose of Sharon for the good of your soules that they may live the life of faith here and the life of glory hereafter Now it may be that Christ will not heare ye by and by because you would not heare him when he did seeke after you in the preaching of his faithfullest messengers but let not that dismay you for he loves to be importuned and therefore solicite him againe and againe and be ye as earnest with him as once Rachel was with Iacob when she said Give me children or else I die Gen. 30.1 so say ye unto Christ O Lord Jesus who art the author of faith and canst give it to whom thou wilt even as thou canst give children when and to whom thou wilt give us faith Lord or else we die and perish for ever or else as once a good old * Ioh. Badly bornt in King Heâ—y the 4. time Anno
enjoy and feele but onely by Christ himselfe inhabâ—â—ing the heart and blessing it with the sweetest influence of the unutterable joyes and comforts of his holy spirit by whom he doth not only enlighten them as temporaries but also regenerates and new creates them in such an admirable and glorious manner as that the joy and comfort thence resulting must needs be also full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 And therefore as they that wanted corne went to Ioseph in Egypt to get some so do ye repaire to Christ beleeving in him that so you also may rejoyce in him with joy unspeakable and full of glory For why will ye and how can ye live so uncomfortably as ye have lived formerly being altogether destitute of that holy spirit of promise whose soule-refreshing comforts none can truly feele till he be truly and throughly come home to Christ 3. So for the life to come 3 In regard of lise eteâ—nall it is Christ that must procure and assure the same unto you or else you must never looke for it but rather for death and destruction as it is probably conceived that if roses had not revived some by Gods blessing upon them they had dyed when they were taken with grievous pulls See Iohn 3.36 He that beleeveth not the sonne shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth upon him Hence * De Corrept grat l. c. 7. Austin no man is freed from the damnation which Adam hath brought upon us but only by faith in Jesus Christ This one ground well digested is like to doe you most good for as I told you formerly the terrors of the law breathing out nothing but horror and damnation must first make you afraid before you will goe to Christ aâ— ye ought even as a great many men will never yeeld to leave the world and the cares of it till they see that they must die and as some others will never beg being too much ashamed to doe it till they see that they must doe it or starve so you will never yeeld to leave your dearest sins and bosome delights and to beg faith in good earnest and to goe to Christ by faith unlesse you see death as it were before your eyes and consider of it seriously that you must starve and dye and perish for ever in that formidable and horrible lake which burneth with fire and brimstone if you doe it not And therefore as * 2 â—am 2.23 men went no farther but stood still by the dead body of Asael so goe no further till ye have viewed and digested this chiefe and last ground concerning life and death that so you may proceed no farther neither in your chase and eager pursuit after the profits sports pleasures and preferments of this world but rather may beg saving faith of Jesus Christ who is the author of it as I noted before and then may looke up by faith on Jesus Christ that ye perish not O my dearly beloved what will not a man doe that he may not * Quomodo homines omnem impeâ—â—dunt operam ne moriantur temporaliter quare non item ne moriantur in aeternum Aug de verb. Apost ser 18. die Skin for skin yea all that a man hath will he give for his life said Satan once to God Iob 2.4 I adde especially if a man being a prisoner were like to be carried every moment out of his prison the place of execution there to be rosted in a chaire of brasse by a small fire and so to dye by little and little and to finish his miserable life in unspeakable torments would not a man give all that he hath that he might not dye such a fearfull death And therefore what is it that you should not be willing to doe and to forgoe who being prisoners too must expeâ—â— every minute to be carried away of the devill who keeps you in prison 2 Tim. 2.26 into the terrible place of execution called hell there to be rosted and to be burned and tormented not by a small but a great and mighty fire which the wrath or breath of God like a streame of brimstone doth kindle Esa 30.33 even for ever and ever if Christ free you not nay suppose a man might escape such a temporall punishment of fiâ—e and save his life if he would but goe forth out of prison to his King who can free him falling downe before him and submitting himselfe unto him to be disposed of by him doe ye thinke he would not willingly leave his prison and even run to the King and do any thing rather that the King shall command then burne Well you may escape so I am sure and therefore should ye not gladly leave sinne which is but like a stinking prison and goe to Christ the King of Kings who requireth no more but your comming and the leaving of your sinnes and humbling of your soules and a ready submission to be disposed by his holy will Leâ— Satan then suggest what he will saying how can ye forgoe such a daâ—â—ing delight and how can ye spare such a sweet gaine and how can ye live without such honour you may now easily put him off with his owne words saying All that a man hath will he give for his life are not these thine owne words canst thou deny them Satan thou canst not thou canst not and therefore never trouble us more with these insinuations and whisperings of thine we are resolved to suffer such a temporall losse rather and to goe to Christ now then to goe on in our sinnes to the utter undoing and loosing of our poore soules for ever and ever Thus repell Satan and thus be induced I pray you to consider the day of your visitation and the most terrible danger you are in that so you may come home to Christ and Christ may come to you which God in mercy grant for his goodnesse and for his Christs sake SECT 12. Sixe Lets which keep men from Christ are to be removed The first is Blindnesse 5. BUT I am afraid for all this 5 DilatatioÌ„ of this use lest my perswasion prove fruitlesse unlesse some certain impediments which lie in the way be first dissolved and removed and therefore I le now bestow some of my pains that way as being confident that as when the pillars and postes of an old tottering house are taken away down comes the house so your former and old Dispositions which I suppose are now tottering and wavering already upon that which hath been said already will quickly fall to the ground and be prostrated unto Christ who looks for such as are dejected and throwne down if those severall postes which as yet keep them up may be pulled away both by me and your selves 1. I say by me first who must shew them unto you and perswade you to throw them away 2. By your selves who must follow my advise for else I can doe you no good For the first that I may
odious savour upbraiding them with their execrable basenesse that I may take away that which letteth after men have heard much of Christ and know what they must doe to obtaine Christ pressing them before and behinde as fighting souldiers are wont to doe in the wars to make some yeeld who yet will stand it out and maintaine the field against Christ supposing that they are for Christ and Christs already and need not goe to Christ when indeed they are against Christ as may appeare by the odious sent of their corrupt hearts and lives both to others and to themselves but to themselves especially Brethren this is my aime I tell you and therefore I have purposely superadded this lot of Basenesse not forgetting my selfe what I had said in the former use of conviction but intending to second that by this because I know that else all my preaching and my labour will be in vaine if men be not made sensible of the most odious sent of their abominable deeds and on the contrary that if men doe once smell the intolerable stinch of their very dearest and most delicious sins they will then labour as much as they can for that sweet rose of Sharon Jesus Christ to perfume and to sweeten their most corrupt and filthy hearts For doe we not see how men will fetch roses and other flowers and perfumes to perfume their roomes if by reason of one that dyed of a filthy disease and stinks most abominably they cannot otherwise stay in their houses as not being able to endure the odious and pestilent sent wherewith the dead corps doth fill the same and therefore I doe proportionably conclude that if men were but or could be sensible of that infinitely more abominable and execrable smell which that body of death even sinne within their hearts evaporates and sends forth continually out of their hearts they would not goe so as they doe without Christ that heart-sweetning rose of Sharon but rather cry out as those Acts 2.37 What shall we doe to get Christ that he may take away this most odious sent which we are no longer able to endure and with the Apostle Rom. 7.24 O wretched men that wee are who will deliver us from that stinking body of death Oh that Christ would doe it and oh that we were but able to get Christ to doe it SECT 15. Of Brutishnesse the fourth Let. 4. THere is much brutishnesse likewise in the hearts of a great many men and women 4 Let. Brutishnes which keeps them from Christ For as the bruit beasts are all for grasse and care not for roses so are they altogether for their victuals and belly cheare and sensuall delights as that they doe not at all regard Christ See Luke 14.20 how one of the guests there invited to the great supper doth upon this very ground refuse to come I have married a wife saith he and therefore I cannot come Marke I cannot come peremptorily whereas the former desired to be excused onely which plainly shewes how hard it is for a * Luxuriosi enim per tertium intelliguntur Durand Ration l. 6. fol. 157. luxurious person to come to Christ who is the good cheare of that great supper wherefore be divorced I pray you from luxury which is the wife there meant and withdraw your selves but a little from your pleasures sports meat drinke and carnall company and then consider of this businesse which doth so much concerne the eternall welfare of your never dying soules for then and not till then there is hope that you will care more for Christ then ever you did yet Take one * Considerations of eternity p. 244. Theodorus for an example when as a great festival day was kept through all Egypt a great feast was at his fathers house and many were invited to it some of whom did dance and others laugh and were merry he retired himselfe into his closet and expostulated with himselfe thus unhappy Theodore is it according to Christian religion to passe from delights to delights either I am much deceived or else Christ hath shewed us another way into the kingdome of heaven whereupon as he prayed that God would not suffer him to die eternally and wept in comes his mother and telleth him that he is looked for but he excusing himselfe send her away againe saying that he was not well in his fromacke Thus being alone he conferred with God and himselfe aâ—out eternity and of his former course what am I or what have I been or how will it be with me hereafter there are divers helps to heaven I 'le goe that way which is most convenient for me but my friends will grieve at it what then but must I doe it now in my youth that is hard so it is indeed to flesh and bloud but experience hath taught that late services are seldome good Therefore Now but I have been tenderly brought up shall I be able to live so strictly I hope I shall but it is a hard matter to strive against custome I have hitherto lived like a nobleman and shall I now live like a poore man Theodore what thinkest thou canst thou doe so I 'le strive what I may Christ is gone but a little before me shall not I follow him Therefore farewell all the world and the things that are in it I care not for you farwell I say all but welcome eternity thou art the onely thing I seeke after my soule longeth after thee there is nothing that I desire in comparison of thee With that bent of cogitations he resolved to become one of Pachomius his schollars and did so saith my author and as he did thus leave a feast and all and mused on eternity and reasoned the matter with his owne soule when he was alone and so welcomed eternity and resolved to be a follower of Pachomius so say I doe you in like manner first retire your selves setting apart one whole day of fasting at least and then secondly reason the matter with your selves concerning Christ that so you may yet embrace and welcome Christ and become his followers and disciples which the Lord in mercy grant that it may be so SECT 16. Of Bitternesse the fifth Let. THe fifth impediment is bitternesse 5 Let is Bitternesse For as a rose of its quality is * Galen l 7. simpl Medicam bitter so Christ is somewhat bitter too or seemes to be so in regard 1. of the law whose bitternesse he that will come to Christ must taste of Gal. 3.24 before he can taste how sweet the Lord Christ is Psal 34.8 2. in regard of those bitter troubles and persecutions which attend those that will live godly in Christ 2 Tim. 3.12 and retard and hinder many from comming to Christ but that must not discourage you my dearly beloved For as the bitternesse is great first and the troubles many that such must taste of who come to Christ so the comforts and the sweetnesses to
even pant and thirst after me who am the health of thy countenance and thy God Psal 42.1.2.11 My company thou doest affect I see and it is most sweet unto thee and therefore my company thou shalt have here I am to be with thee as thou didst desire me for as thou takest delight in me so do I take delight in thee and as my voice is sweet to thee so thine is sweet to me Cant. 2.14 and as I am like a rose in thy sight most amiable and most faire so art thou like a garden of flowers most pleasant and most fragrant in my sight Cant. 4.12 and as the unexpressable and sweetest comforts of my spirit which are my fruit that I bring with me do marvelously please thee so do thy most * Cant. 4.16 pleasant fruits which are the * Vel bona opera Psellus in Cant. â— 16 graces of my spirit whom I find in thee when I come unto thee please me and therefore behold here I am to enjoy thee who dost so earnestly and ardently long to be with me 4. Be willing to be with Christ by reading much and often in the booke of God which is like a most pleasant * 〈…〉 l. 5. paradise as Irenaeus aptly resembles it in the which the Lord Jesus Christ doth flourish as a Rose in Sharon field shewing himselfe thorow the very thornes of the most pricking and piercing Law of God but especially thorow the green and reviving leaves of the soul-solacing Gospel and so consequently throughout the whole book of God whereof that Princely preacher the * Philip. Camerar in vitacom Anbalt Prince of Anhalt was wont to say what else is the whole Scripture but swadling clothes of the childe Jesus he being to be found almost in every page in every verse and line so as that the * Col. 3.16 Apostle might well terme the whole word of God the word of Christ because he is the matter of the whole and the contents of all the Bible * Ideo enim Moses posuit aeneum serpentem non incoâ—gruâ—â—stendens quod lex Christum prophetavit Beâ—a in Num. â—1 shadowed in the Law shewed in the Gospel which caused * August in Psal 49.5 St. Austine to say most aptly Vnam vocem habent duo testamenta The word of the Lord containes nothing but the word which is the Lord. 5. Be willing to be with Christ in the reading of such good books as were written by good men of Christ For we must not thinke that the Pope of Rome onely is authorized to shew Christ by a rose of gold unto the people as his * Romanus verâ— poâ—tifix successor utique Pâ—triâ—t vicaâ—ius â—esu Christâ— huâ—â— flâ—rem fideâ—thus populis demonsâ—rat Durâ—â—d Ratâ— 6. fo 11â— flatterers doe make him beleeve No but every faithfull Minister of Christ may shew him forth in the best manner he can though he be not able to doe it in golden lines and phrases and therefore divers able men have done their best to shew Christ both by speaking and by writing unto the people of God whose most excellent treatises are to be found extant as so many delightfull rosaries or rose-gardens wherein Jesus Christ is most sweetly set forth and flourishes like a rose faire and pleasant so as that ye may doe well to fetch a walke in them now and then to recreate your wearied minds with the sight and smell of so fragrant and faire a flower and to manifest that ardent and longing desire to be with Christ which ought to be in every one of you 6. Be willing to be with Christ in the people of God who also are as a most delicious garden Cant. 4.12 In the which this faire rose doth shew himselfe most graciously by their sweet and savory speeches and fairest carriage emblematizing and representing in a most fit and proportionable degree that most admirable and ravishing pleasantnesse amiablenesse and fairenesse which is in Christ himselfe the rose of Sharon See Gal. 2 20. Psal 16.3 2. Be willing to be with Christ in heaven hereafter and not so unwilling to depart this fraile life as many are For so you shall mount up with Elias though not in a chariot of fire yet upon the wings or armes of Angels into the very bosome as it were of Christ that fairest rose of Sharon assoone as your earthly tabernacles are dissolved and unsouled by death you goe then to behold and to see his glorious beauty and to enjoy his sweetest society through all eternity * Socrates prositâ—tur se â—bent â— mâ—â—iturum ut possâ—â— videre 〈◊〉 caetus veterum hâ—â—oum inter 〈◊〉 sâ— Orâ—â—â—eus Hesâ—â—dus Hâ—â—â—â—cus c quid nâ—s siâ—â—les Noâ—â—tique illos 〈◊〉 catus prophetarum 〈◊〉 ipâ—â—m in sua gâ—oria Aâ—et probl de Morte p 410. Socrates did professe once that he for his part was most willing to die that he might see those companies and assemblies of those ancient heroicall personages Orpheus namely Hesiodus Homer c. and should not you Christians that are espoused to Christ be infinitely more desiâ—ous to goe hence upon the summons of death that you might enjoy the beatificall and most glorious vision of Jesus Christ your coelestiall bridegroome that sweetest and fairest rose of Sharon blessed for ever should ye not even eccho forth as it were the same words which once issued from the blessed soule of that holy Apostle Phil. 1.23 answering him and saying we also have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better 3. Be perswaded likewise to manifest it that you make more of Christ then ever you did seeing he is so faire and so usefull and so desirable a rose by a mighty care to keep him still as we keep and conserve roses over yere in glasses and vessels of earth so be carefull I say to conserve Christ that sweetest rose of Sharon not onely over yeare but every yeare and every day of your whole race till your very last gaspe If you ask me how and where would you have us to keep him Quest I answer Answ 1 In the vessels of your hearts and within the compasse of your minds striving to thinke upon him continually even as a spouse upon her best beloved and as * Val Max. Artemisia did ever carry in her mind her deare deceased husband Maâ—seolus mingling her very drinke with his ashes so doe you beare Christ in mind who is your best beloved and mingle or bestraw all your meat and drinke and words and works with his sweetest remembrance even as the ancient * Romanis fol a rosarum serculis epularum inspergere moâ—â—rat Jonston Thaumatoâ—r Nat. p. 215. Romanes did bestraw their meat with roses nay come you must promise him so much before ye depart in the words of his spouse * Cant. 1.4 We will remember thy love more then wine 2. Keep him not onely by way of a holy and perpetuall recordation and
you from that wrath and take away that heat as Roses do take away the heat of a hot disease For none else but he was ever able to pacifie the provoked wrath and fury of God It was the foolish pride of that Romane Emperour Caligula Caligulaes folly having made a bridge of grappled ships over a narrow arm of the Sea in imitation of Xerxes and triumphing at midnight with innumerables torches to boast that he had wrought two great miracles having made the sea dry land and the night day but our Emperour of heaven and earth even the Lord Jesus Christ did so indeed when he dried up the red Sea of his fathers wrath and changed our present night of ignorance sadnesse and future of torment into the eternall day-light of his grace and glory and there was none with him when he did it because none but he was able to do it nor will be ever See Esa 63.3 I have troden the wine-presse alone and of the people there was none with me that is none did * Nemo mihi patienti adsuit Cyryl in Loc. suffer with me when I suffered my fathers wrath wherefore as God said once to his people so say I unto you Enter into the rock * Altiâ—ri intellectu praecipitur omnibus ut ingrediantur in pâ—tram iâ— est confugium faciant ad Christum veraciter credendo in eum Haymo in Loc. that is in Christ who is the rock for feare of the Lord and for the glory of his Majestie when he is angry and there hide your selves making what use you can of Christ and labouring to be found in Christ and to have Christ ever in your mind till the indignation be over past Esa 2.10 and Chap. 26. vers 20. 22. 22 Case Moreover are you deprived of your dearest friends goodly children or loving parents or hath any of you been bereaved of a kinde yoke-fellow and do ye thereupon conclude that God is displeased with you then go to Christ in this your heavy and sad condition who is ready to be unto you in stead of a sonne a father or mother or brother or friend Matth. 12.50 and so consequently to exhilarate and to cheere you up as a Rose whose * Roses do rejoyce the blood Tho. Hill in his Art of gardening p. 88. propertie it is to be exhilarative 23. 23 Case Again though you do not feel the wrath of God in your souls yet if you be but comfortlesse and destitute of the sense and feeling of his love towards you rest not so but go with all speed to Christ who is both able and ready to comfort your sorrowfull souls as Roses are able to * William Langh p. 533. comfort the head and heart of a man when he is weake For so he saith Ioh. 14.18 I will not leave you comfortlesse I will come to you Mark I le come to you saith he Where as other Roses cannot come to us but we must go after them to shew how ready he is to come and to comfort us whensoever we are sad and comfortlesse wherefore I coÌ„clude with sweet St. * Tristatur aliquis nostrum veniat in cor Jesus Bern. Sâ—rm 15. super Cant. Bernard is any man sad Let Christs sweetest name Jesus I adde and this precious promise come into his heart and minde and so let him procure that peace and comfort which the world cannot give in and by Jesus Christ that sweet and most comfortable Rose of Sharon but this comfortablenesse of Christ I have likewise already enforced upon your affections as now I do reinforce it upon your wils and therefore I am here the more brief in my perswasion 24. 24 Case Are you sick and weake in body and like to die then ô then make use of Christ chiefly For then usually men make most use of their corruptible Roses or Rose-water Rose-vinegar Roses conserved and * For few cordials can want the help of Roses or Rose-water Will. Langh p. 535. cordials made of Roses and other ingredients when they be very ill and should ye not then above all other times make as much account of Christ that incorruptible Rose of Sharon yea infinitely more Forasmuch as he is then able to do good both to your souls and bodies whereas other Roses as I noted formerly are but good for the one and nothing for the other It is Christ and none but Christ that can heale all diseases as he is not onely man but also God all-powerfull Psal 103.3 It is Christ and none but Christ that can then strengthen us when naturall strength faileth as it is written Esa 40.29 He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he encreaseth strength which all the cordials upon earth cannot do It is Christ and none but Christ that can then content your languishing souls and drooping spirits when neither meat nor drink will down with you as it is written Psal 23.4 5. Yea Though I walk thorow the valley of the shadow of death I will feare none ill for thou namely * Aug. in Loc. Christ art with me thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me Thou preparest a table or feast for my poore soul before me in the presence of mine enemies where by enemies we may understand death and Satan also among the rest who then are before us when we are dying Lastly it is Christ and none but Christ that can then keep us alive that we die not the everlasting death when neither money nor friends nor Physick nor Physicians can keep us from death For so he saith Ioh. 6.49.50 Your fathers did eat Manna in the wildernesse and are dead that could not keep them alive This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die namely for ever And therefore as in ancient time sick and weak and dying Christians were * Ansèlm apud Rosium in conf Petriconiensi cap. 73. Georg. Cassander in append ad opusc Iohan. Roffens de siducia misericordia Dei. directed to make use of Christ at that time especially interposing the death of Christ betwixt them and Gods Judgement so do I advise and perswade you now to do the like saying as they were taught to say if the Lord will Judge you Lord we interpose the death of of our Lord Iesus Christ betwixt us and thy Iudgement no otherwise we contend with thee c. I must not proceed farther lest I should prevent my self in that which I must say by and by touching the form and manner of making use of Christ and therefore let that suffice which I have already spoken 25. 25 Case Finally my brethren if your faith be weake either then when you be weak and sick or at any other time then ô then be sure to go to Christ who being like a Rose is as able to corroborate your faith in the heart as Roses are able to * Rosarum