his nest with the things of this World yet when hee comes to his hole hee leaves all behinde him Naked came wee into this World and naked shall wee goe out againe u Job 1.21 Let us not then bee like the Raynbow which though it seeme to bee in the Ayre yet the ends tend to the earth but rather like the Ceder that stretcheth forth her branches toward Heaven Interpositio terrae est causa Eclipseos lunae w Magir. Phis The Interposition of the Earth betweene the Sunne and the Moone is the cause of the Eclipse of the Moone And the interposition of earthly things betweene the Sunne of righteousnes and us doth blind our spirituall eyes that wee cannot thinke of Heaven but are like the Moone when wee are at the full oftentimes in greatest opposition to that Sunne As GOD said unto Abraham x Gen. 12.1 Exi de terra tua Get thee out of thy Countrey and from thy kindred unto a Land that I shall shew thee so doth hee speake unto the Church in generall and to every member in particular y Psal 45 10. forget thine owne people and thy fathers house This World is our Fathers house the Land wherein we are borne and bread but we must forget our fathers house forsake z Doctor Boy on the Epist for Easter day this homestall and seeke for another in the spirituall Chanaan one to come in Hierusalem that is above Wee must say to the World when it is gotten into the closet of our hearts as Amnon did a 2 Sam. 13.15 to his sister get thee hence And if it will not bee gone we must thrust it out and lock the dores of our hearts and shut the windowes of our affections after it It is written of the Squerill and Badger b Pliny that in their nests and dens they have two holes one they open towards the Sunne but shut the other to keepe out the blustering winds so let us open the dores of our hearts toward the Sunne of righteousnes but keepe them shut against the blusterings of this world Wee should bee like Aristotles vessell which being made of virgins Wax would keepe out the salt water but receive the fresh so let us refuse the bitter waters of Iericho and receive the waters of life If wee affect Ierusalem that is above let us neglect Babilon that is below Remember then O man that thou art a man looke not downward on the earth with the eyes of thy soule as beasts doe with the eyes of their bodies Goe not on thy belly with the Serpent grow not with the Bramble with both ends towards the earth but be lifted upward toward Heaven that thou mayst appeare to bee a member of the Church which doth herein resemble the Flower of the Lily of the Vallies Secondly the leaves of the Lily do extend outwards and bend downwards so the Church and the members thereof must extend their charity not onely to them that are neere either by propinquity of neighbourhood or affinity of kindred but even to them that are farr off The heart of man doth derive the heat not only to the breast and belly and the parts that are neere it but even to the toes and fingers and the parts farthest of so the members of the Church ought to extend their charity not only to them that are neere but even to them that are farr off The Henn they say will cover no Chickens under her wings but her owne or such as shee supposeth to bee her owne So many will make much of none but those that are of their owne kindred as for strangers there is no hope of any thing for them Nature c Aristotle in the generation of a Frogge being afrayd that her matter will not hold out doth bestow so much on the breast and belly and the parts neere the heart that there is little left for the legge whence it is that the belly of a Frogge is so large and swelling so many feare that their substance will not hold out they shall not have inough for their friends and kindred and therefore their donation is very small for them that are farre off I speake not this to streighten the bowells of affection and charity in men to their owne kindred for in some they are straitned too much already in these degenerate dayes of ours wherein a man may oftentimes meete with a more lively heat of affection from strangers then from their owne friends and alliyes The Apostle saith d 1 Tim. 5.8 hee that provideth not for his owne hee is worse then an infidell Cosmographers make mention of some Anthropophagi men eaters that live neere the Caspian Hills that the children use to eat their fathers when they grow old that they should not bee devoured of the Wormes This custome I feare may bee found among many when as the Prophet speaks e Ezek 5.10 the fathers eat the sonnes and the sonnes eat the fathers they oftentimes consuming and devouring the estates one of another The Apostle makes it a note of the last dayes f 2 Tim. 3.3 that men should bee without naturall affection How can they bee spiritually affected g Absal Funerall Teares that are not naturally affected Can they love Gods children that have no love to their owne bowells or they be friends to their enemies that are tirants to their friends So that it is true that charitas inicpit in seipsa charity beginns at him Yet non desinit in seipsa it must not end there but goe abroad to our neighbours Constantine the great h Euseb Ecclâ—s Hyst 〈◊〉 cap. 9. got great favour of the people and added to the Christians dayly by providing for the poore insomuch that the Gentiles noted the love of Christians one to another and by their charity were sometimes compelled to confesse the God of the Christians Stipis pauperum thesaurus divitum was the word of the good Emperour Tiberius Constantius i Reusaer Symb. The rich mans treasure is the poore mans stock It is recorded k Nazian in vita ejus of S. Bazill the great that in a famine hee did not onely give to the poore such as hee had himselfe but exhorted all others to set open their Barnes and to doe the like But now there are many churlish Naballs that say l 1 Sam. 25.10 11. Who is David and who is the sonne of Iesse there bee many servants now adayes that breake away every man from his Mayster Shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers and give it unto men whom I know not whence they bee There is many an unmercifull Dives m Luke 16. that will not part with a crumme though it might make them to gayne a Crowne For Da parva ut magna recipias saith S. Bazill n In Div. pag. 16. He that gives little shall receave much And damna
men let not their faire presence of holines be a cover of their inward wickednes Let them cease to be like the Apples of Sodome that grow by the lake Asphaltites that had a faire shew without but within were nothing but dust and ashes It was Julians policy to make his followers seeme holy that he might the better deceive and Satan Julians master maketh his followers seeme holy that he may the better deceive But they may blind the worlds eye yet Gods eye Qui minime fallitur quia minime clauditur k Ds. Bernard which is alwayes open and never shut cannot be blinded Moses Leprosy l Exod 4.6 in his hand was as apparant in the eyes of God as Vzziabs m 2 Chron. 26 19. Leprosy in his fore-head God sees secret hypocrisy as wel as open profannes will discover it and them Qui color albus erat nunc est contrarius albo They shall appeare in their perfect colours Wherefore let every one endevour to be like Ezechiells booke n Ezech. 2.10 that was written both within and without like the Arke o Exod. 25.11 that was overlayd with pure gold both within and without like Maries box p Mat. 26.7 that without was Alablaster and within full of oyntment and like the Lily that is white both within and without And thus the Church appeares to be all beautifull for to the perfectest beauty is required the best commixtion of red and white so that the Church maybe said to be white and ruddy being blanched in the white robes of innocency guilded with the bloud of Martyrs she is a red Rose by her Martyrs and a white Lily by the virgin innocency of the Saints And though she sometimes want the crown of Martyrdome yet she must alwayes have the white robs of innocency though she seemes sometimes not to be the red Rose of Sharon yet shee must alwayes be the white Lily of the Vallies Fourthly the Lily growes among Thornes in the Church the white Lillies flourish among black Thornes In Adams family there was a Cayne as well as an Abel in Noahs Arke there was a Cham as well as a Shem or Iaphet beasts uncleane as well as cleane in Abrahams house there was an Ishmael as well as an Isaack and it is no greater wonder to see a Iudas among Christs Disciples then it was to see a Saul q 2 Sam. 19.22 among the Prophets Wicked men in the Church are mixed with true beleevers and the Tares must grow among the Wheat for the Church is a Lily among Thornes Which may fitly be applyed against the Separatists that leave this Lily because of the Thornes and goe out of the Church by reason of some bad They have a heat in them but it is a strange fire raked out of the embers of passion blowne with the bellowes of pride and selfe conceitednes and mayntained by the fewell of faction which makes them at first to be faxardens and then draco volans Like humid bodyes facilè in alienis terminis difficultèr in suis continentur they first crosse the Church and then the seas first run out of reason and then out of the Church Cursed be such heat for it is cruell O my soule r Gen. 49.6 come not thou into their secret be not thou united to their assembly When Lot and Abraham fell out Lot would needs part with him though he told them that they were brethren s Gen. 13.8 So those Separatists fall out with the Bishops of our Church and say as those in S. Austins time t Augustin in Psal 129. Seperemus nos let us goe out from among them And although wee say to them Servate pacem keepe the peace and love the unity of the Church yet they will goe out from us although I feare oftentimes with Lot u Gen. 13.12 into Sodome when the other with Abraham may enter into the Land of Chanaan When Christ was upō the earth was his head pricked with Thornes his body was scourged but w John 19.36 not a bone of him was broken so now he is in Heaven though his head be pricked with contentions although it might bee wished that it were not pricked at all yet let us not breake his bones We must not part Paul and Barnabas for x Acts 15 37. Markes sake as long as wee agree in fundamentall poynts of faith we must not goe out of the Church by reason of some errors or imperfections I wrote unto you saith the Apostle y Cor. 5.9.10 not to keepe company with fornicators yet not altogether with the fornicators of this World or with the covetous or extortioners or idolators for then must yee needs goe out of the World Should Noah have forsaken the company of all wicked men he must have gone out of the World for the whole earth was corrupt and z Gen. 6.11 filled with cruelty save onely he and his family What S. Austin a Epist 48. determined against the Donathists may be urged against these men non propter malos boni deserendi sed propter bonos malitolerandi We must not forsake the good for the bad but must tolerate the bad for the good The Tares must grow among the Wheat without a separation untill the Lord of the harvest make a seperation at the generall day of judgment and the Lily the Church must grow among Thornes But as the Lily among Thornes retaynes the whitenes and sweetnes so must the Church among thorny sinners and haereticall Christians retayne her innocency And this is b Angelom in locum no disprayse to the righteous but rather their prayse to be godly among the wicked and not to be infected with the thorny conversation of others but to shine as lights in darknes Non mediocris est titulus profecto virtutis inter pravos vivere bonum inter malignantes innocentiae retinere candorem magis autem si his qui oderunt pacem pacificum te praebeas amicum saith S. Bernard c In Cant. Ser. 48. It is no small vertue to be good among the evill to be innocent among the nocent and to be peaceable among the turbulent and contentious herein they are like the Lillies themselves which by their owne beauty adorne the Thornes by which they are pricked It is no great matter to seeme to bee good among the good and according to the Proverb Cum fueris Romae Romano vivere more When you are at Rome to doe as the Romans doe but the godly must reteyne their innocency in the midst of the tents of Kedar she must reteyne her whitenes for therein the Church resembles the Lily of the Vallies And so I come to the limitation of this second attribute to the second subject of the Vallies I am the rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Vallies The Church is the low Lilly of the low Vallies which may teach humility to all the members
Revel 19 4. foure and twenty elders and the fowre beasts praysing GOD with our Church and saying Glory be to God on high and in earth peace good will toward men We prayse thee wee blesse thee we worship thee we glorify thee we give thankes unto thee O Lord God heavenly King for all thy blessings bestowed upon us for that thou hast sent thy Sonne Iesus Christ not only to live among men but to dy for men Grant O Lord that we may all be partakers of all the benefits of his passion And that for the same Iesus Christ his sake who as he died for sin so he ever lives to make intercession for sinnes To whom with thee and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory now and for ever Amen THE ROSE AND LILY. DELIVERED AT THE LECTVRE In ASHBY de-la-zouch in the County of Leicester By WILLIAM PARKS Master of Arts and curat of Chelaston in the County of DERBY 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Discendum propter docendum LONDON Printed by JOHN NORTON 1638. To the Right Honorable FERDINANDO Lord HASTINGS my very good Lord. WHAT Thucidides affirmes experience proves true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that hearing is not lyable to any account but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatsoever a man speakes but especially writes it layes him open to others censure unto which J have now exposed my selfe and crave your Lordships protection Your Honour must not expect any high straynes in this Sermon Haud facile emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi As it is J desire your Lordships acceptance of it as an expression of some part of that duty and service J owe your Honor. The God of mercie poure downe his mercies on your Lordship your Honourable Lady and hopefull children Which shall alwaies be the praier of Your Lordships in all duty and service WILLIAM PARKS THE ROSE AND LILY. SOLOMONS SONG 2.1 J am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the vallyes WHat the Queene of Shebah told Solomon that a 1 Kings 10.6 7. though it were a true report which shee had heard of him yet the one halfe was not told her so may I say unto you concerning this Text though it bee a true report you have heard of him that is greater then Solomon b Mat. 12 42. yet the one halfe is not told you For this Text is a most fertile and fruitfull Field conteyning variety of no lesse profitable then pleasant Flowers from whence I have already brought you a Posy made of Roses and now give me leave from the same Garden to present unto you a Posy composed of Liles The Lily is next in nobility to the Rose saith Pliny c Lib. 2 cap. 5. and therefore as I have shewed you wherein Christ resembles the Rose so must I now shew you how hee is the Lily of the vallyes The writers d Arist Pliny Dodan of the nature of things have written much in the commendadation of the Lily affirming it to bee a most fine Flower both for fragrant smell and curious colours And many Princes did beare it in their crests and Escutchions but I leave this for Heralds to discourse of and for Herbalists to discusse and shall onely shew you that Christ resembles the Lily in these fowre respects First the Flower of the Lily is lifted upward and open toward Heaven but toward the earth it is close and shut so Christ had his mind open toward Heaven set on heavenly things but he alwayes neglected and contemned earthly things Secondly the leaves of the Lily spread outward and bend downward so Christ extended his benefits downward even to his enemies Thirdly the whitenesse of the Lily may signify Christs eternity or his innocency Fourthly the Lily growes among thornes and Christ when hee was upon the Earth was conversant among sinners in these respects hee shewed himselfe to bee the Lily of the vallyes And first of the first the Flower of the Lily is open toward Heaven but close toward the earth so Christ had his affections open toward heavenly things but he neglected earthly As Christ was sometime e Luke 2.51 subject to his Mother so was he alwayes obedient to his father He that f John 3.31 came from above did set his affections on things g Colos 3.2 above This Lily had alwayes the eyes of his affections open toward heaven it being his chiefest care to doe his heavenly fathers h Luke 2.49 busines but close shut toward earth and earthly things There are three i Ludolph de vita Christi part 1. cap. 67. things that hinder us from having the eyes of our soules open toward Heaven but Christ was free from them all First quando oculus nimis occupatur circa sensibilia when the eye is too much imployed about sensible objects namely when the affection is set on earthly things for then is the eye of the soule dazled with the dust of covetousnes but Christ had no mind of earthly riches but as hee had none so he did desire none Secondly quando nimis occupatur circa delectabilia when it is too much taken up with delightfull things the carnall desires of the flesh for then the eye is blinded with the fire of concupiscence but Christ was free from that and it is such a sinne that the divell himselfe would not tempt Christ by that though hee tempted him by riches and the glory of the World k Mat. 4 Thirdly quando nimis occupatur circa sublimia when it is intent on lofty things namely ambitiously taken up with the pompe and glory of the World for then the eye is darkned with the smoake of pride but Christ was free from that for he l John 6.16 fled from those that would have made him King So that he had no worldly riches to clog him no carnall pleasures to allure him no ambitious thoughts to stop him nor any of those to hinder him for having his eyes and thoughts settled on heavenly things Hee was not like the Basiliskes which Pliny m Lib. 8. calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they looke downward and cannot turne their countenance upward toward the Firmament but rather he was like the fish which Albertus as I remember makes mention of that had but one eye placed in his pole so that he alwayes looked upward minding things above but hee did altogether neglect if not contemne all earthly things Which will the better appeare if we consider his poverty in his birth in his life and in his death First in his birth Exigua magni pompa puerperii saith S. Cyprian n Serm. de nati Christi There was but small pomp at this great birth he was borne in so meane a manner that the cratch was his cradle the o Luke 2.7 manger his chamber and the stable his Inne If the Sun of God will needs come and dwell among the sons of men Kings palaces me thinks were bad
gloriae pompaque jactantiae saith Saint Chrysostome q Apud Barraa In doing those miracles which Christ would not have told he shewed how farre hee was from vayne glory and seeking prayse of men but in those miracles that hee would have to bee divulged hee shewes how free hee was in seeking glory to GOD for hee bidds the man that was freed from his legion of divells to shew r Luke 8.39 how great things not hee but God had done for him And all the time of his life wherein hee wrought his miracles hee went about doing of them he rode not in any stately manner but went on foot neither do I read that hee did ride at all but once when hee rode upon an Asse s Mat. 21.25 into Hierusalem And when he sate Nun quam in sede nec in pulvinari sed in ipsa superficie terrae modo in montibus modo apud fontes sedet docet saith St. Chrysostome t Hom. 67. in Mat. Christ sate and taught not on any couch or chayre of state sometimes on the mountaines sometimes by the fountaines alwaies on the superficies of the earth Fiftly Christ shewed his humiltty in his dying It was great love and as great Humility for him to be cloathed with the vaile of our nature and to undertake the infirmities of our feeble nature yet it was greater love and humility too for him to be compassed with the shadow of death and to undergoe the penalty due to our sinfull nature What humilitie could bee greater then that the Lord of life should suffer a shamefull and ignominious death that hee that was gloria Angelorum should become opprobrium hominum he that was the glory of Angells should be made the u Psal 22 6 scorn of men and despised of the people Thus Christ knowing that humilitie did suite well with the head when the body was sicke with pride bowed w Psal 18.9 the heavens and came downe there was the humilitie of his Godhead not putting it off but clothing it with the raggs of flesh And from his birth to his buriall from the time of his being borne in another mans stable untill the time of his being buried in another mans tombe he alwaies shewed the humility of his manhood never ceasing untill his head were laid under the earth his foot-stoole So that wee may say of him with St. Bernard x De Pass Dom. Nemo illo sublimior nemo humilior there was none more lofty none more lowly none more high and none more humble then he he humbled himselfe saith the Apostle y Philip. 2.8 and became obedient unto death even the death of the Crosse in all his humilitie shewing himselfe to bee the Lily of the Vallies Now because it is not enough for us to feede on the Word as the Israelites might z Deut. 23 24 25. on their Neighbours Grapes and Corne while they were in their Vine-yards or Fields but might carry none away with them I shall briefly therefore shake some of the Boughes and give some of the Fruit of that which hath been delivered to every one that will carry it away with him First therefore in that CHRIST resembles the Flower of the Lilies and is open towards Heaven but close and shut towards earth wee may from thence learne to know the seat of our affection to set our affections a Col. 3.1 2. on things above and to seeke those things and not the things on earth Christians receive their name from Christ Et operae pretium est quod sicut sunt haeredes nominis ita sint imitatores sanctitatis saith S. Bernard b Seaten pag. 496. It is fit that as they are heires of his name so they should bee imitaters of his nature and conversation Conversatio autem Christi apertè docet praesentia contemnere ad futura spem dirigere saith the same Father c Pag 17.23 But the conversation of Christ doth plainly teach us to contemne present riches and to love future not to mind things present but to place our hopes on things to come Secondly let us shew our love to Christ by pitty and compassion Christ resembling the leaves of the Lilies did extend his love downeward toward us let us extend our love upward toward him As Christ shewed his love every way to us so let us shew our love every way to him hee loved us even when hee was dying let us love him all the time wee are living Christus quanto pro me vilior tanto mihi charior saith S. Bernard d In Epiph. Ser. 1. The more vile the Sonne of God Was made for us so much the more deare should hee bee unto us Domine Iesu dilexisti me plus quam te quoniam mori voluiâ—li pro me c. pudeat non redamare te pro tanto amore tuo e S. Augustine O Lord Iesu thou hast loved me more than thy selfe in that thou wouldest vouch safe to dy for me it would be a great shame for me not to love thee againe for this thy so great love Thirdly Christ was an example for us to imitate in our conversation and that in three respects First in innocency we may learne from him to bee f Mat. 10.16 wise as Serpents and innocent as Doves Secondly as Christ was conversant with sinners but not defiled with sinne so though wee live in the midst of a sinfull generation with Noah yet let us not participate with the evill of the time or place or company where wee live I doe but touch of these things by way of application to this subject because I must speake more of them by way of explication in the next Thirdly and lastly Christ is a patterne unto us of humility Remember that Christ is a Lily of the Vallies God g Angelom in loc is the God of humble men and humility was taught us from him by precept and patterne Puderet te forsan imitari hominem humilem saltem imitare humilem deum saith S. Austin h In John Tract 23. Thou wouldst bee ashamed perhaps to imitate an humble man yet at least imitate a humble God Men are ready to allow Court fashions and the greater the personage the sonner is the fashion followed Now Christ our King tooke on him the fashion of humility and all that meane to bee accepted in his court must weare the same fashion For Quid detestandum amplius quid gravius puniendum quam ut videns deum coeli parvulum factum ultra apponat homo magnificare se supra terram Intolerabilis impudentiae est ut ubi sese exinanivit Majestas vermiculus infletur intumescat saith S. Bernard i Flores â—eâ—n pag. 2133. What is more to bee detested what more worthy to be punished then that man which seeing the God of Heaven to become little on earth should exalt himselfe above earth It is an intolerable impudency that where Majesty became
the Church is profitable and healthfull to her members Shee restores health to her members by monitions and admonitions strengthning them that are sound by wholesome Doctrine and restoring them that are sicke by good discipline But if any member be past cure then w Ovid Metamorph Immedicabile vulnus Ense redendū est ne pars sincera trahatur Then shee cuts it off by the spirituall sword of Excommunication Those that are in the barren Wildernes without the pale of the Church are miserable there is mors in olla death is in their pot but those that are within the pale of the Church in that fruitfull Field are happy there is health in her bosome The Church of God is the House of God x 1 Tim. 3.15 the Pillar and ground of truth And shee is very profitable unto her members Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus is a common saying among the fathers without the Church there is no salvation Without the Church they cannot attayne unto the right of adoption whereby they that live faithfully are made actually the children of GOD. They that continue in the Ship of the Church are secure y Doctor Boy though the Sea make a noyse and stormes arise but hee that utterly forsakes the Ship of the Church and swims either in the cockboate of heresies or upon the windy bladders of his owne conceipt shall never touch the land of the living Those that are out of the Church have not the communion and interest of the members with the head and being no part of his body how can they lay claime to his benefits or challenge right to the Kingdome of heaven And to this purpose heaven is called z Acts. 26.18 the inheritance of them which are sanctifyed by faith in CHRIST Nothing now remaines to be spoken of at this time but onely that every one fill his pitcher with this water and carry it home for his owne use which that wee may doe I shall briefly apply First in that the Church is the red Rose by persecution every one should learne patience in his affliction Remember the sufferings of Christ wee doe but sup of that Cup which hee dranke quite off Nihil est quod non aequanimiter tolleretur si passio Christi in memoriam revocetur a St. Gregory There is no affliction so great no crosse so grievous that will not easily be borne by us if wee doe remember the sufferings of Christ And therefore Vniversa pro eo sustine qui prius pro te Majora sustinuit saith St. Bernard b de Resurrec Dom. suffer some persecution for his sake that suffered more for thine Secondly let us labour for our Renovation that our newnes of life may send forth a sweet savour in our conversation Thirdly in that the Church and the members thereof shall rise from the dead it affords matter of our consolation For so the Prophet David speakes c Psa 16.9.10 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope for thou wilt not leave my soule in hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption Fourthly seeing the Church is of Gods owne plantation let us looke to our fructification Our Saviour putteth forth the parable of the Figge tree to us d Luke 13.6 A certaine man had a Figge Tree in his Vineyard and hee came and sought fruit thereon three Yeares Every one of us is a Tree planted in the Vineyard of the Church God hath expected fruit of us three Yeares in generall of the whole Kingdome under the Raignes of our most gracious Soveraignes Queene Elizabeth King Iames and King Charles in particular of every private persons the three ages of mans life infancy youth old age let not us give him the bark of an outward profession onely nor the leaves of good works but the fruit of good workes Lastly seeing the Church is open to all commers let every one of us labour to be of that corporation that we may bee partakers of all the benefits that accrew thereby and that being members of the Church militant we may reigne with the Church triumphant Which God grant unto us all for Iesus Christs sake To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost three persons and one God be al honour and praise now and for ever Amen THE ROSE AND LILY. DELIVERED AT THE LECTVRE In ASHBY de-la-zouch in the County of Leicester By WILLIAM PARKS Master of Arts and curat of Chelaston in the County of DERBY 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Discendum propter docendum LONDON Printed by JOHN NORTON 1638. To The Right Worshipfull his much Honoured friend THOMAS PARKS Esquier SIR IF Elisha were at a stand when hee considered what the good Shunamite had done for him that hee askes a 2 Kings 4.13 What is to bee done againe for her And Ahasuerus for Mordecay when hee had receaved a good turne from him that hee saies b Esther 6.3 What hath beene done to him for this How much more maie I saie of you you have been beneficiall to mee from my Youth What dutie and service shall J returne to you againe J confesse that if there bee anie thing in these my weake labours that maie deserue acceptance you maie justlie challenge it as your owne Without whose bountie I had not lived in the University nor attained to that small measure of knowledge that J have And therefore being able to doe nothing else J commit this Sermon to your Patronage and protection and your selfe your fruitfull Vine and Olive branches to the protection of the Almighty desiring him to give you the blessings of his Right hand and of his left to fill you with the blessing of grace heere and of glorie hereafter Yours to be commanded in Christ Jesus WILLIAM PARKES THE ROSE AND LILY. SOLOMONS SONG 2.1 J am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the vallyes WHat S. Ierome sayes a Ad Paulin. of the Catholique Epistles of S. Peter S. James S. John and S. Jude Breves esse pariter long as that they are both short and long so may I say of this Text it is short in words but long in matter And what S. Austin sayes b Praefat in Psal 87. of the fourescore and seaventh Psalme Brevis est numero verborum magnus pondere sententiarum that it is short in regard of the number of the words long in respect of the weightines of the matter so may I say of this Text it is a short sentence but full of sence conteyning matter for almost as many Sermons as it conteynes words It being but five words in the Originall yet is the subject of foure Sermons Three of them have been delivered formerly and now the fourth the same assistance strengthing and the same patience expecting is to be prosecuted in shewing you wherein the Church resembles the Lily of the Valleys First the Lily is open toward heaven but close and
shut toward earth so the members of the Church must have their affections open on things above Secondly the leaves of the Lily extend outwards and bend downwards a fit embleme of the Churches charitie Thirdly the Lily is white which signifies the Churches innocency Fourthly the Lily growes among Thornes and in the Church there is a commixtion of good and bad in these respects the Church also resembles the Lily of the Valleyes First the Flower of the Lily is lifted upward and spreades toward heaven but toward the earth it is close and shut whence the Church and the members thereof may learne a sursum corda to lift up their hearts and to open them towards heaven but to keepe them close shut toward earth and earthly things Wee read in the Law c Lâ—v. 11 4â— That those creatures which crept on their bellyes were uncleane so under the Gospell those men that have their bellies their affections creeping on the earth are uncleane Si delectat te mundus semper vis esse immundus si autem non te delectat mundus jam tu es mundus saith S. Austin d In John Tr. 36. If the World delight thee then thou art still a worldling and uncleane but if the World delight thee not then art thou chosen out of the World and art cleane Man is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from looking upward his name may put him in mind of his nature and duty to looke upward and to contemplate on heavenly things And whereas all other creatures looke downward toward the earth the place from whence they were taken Os homini sublime dedit coelumque Videre Iussit erectos ad sidera tallere vultus Saith the Poet e Ovid Metamorph lib. 1. man hath his countenance erected toward heaven to looke up to that place to which hee should aspire God made not f Eccles 7.29 and 15. man crooked but upright for who can streighten that which hee hath made crooked but man boweth downe himselfe by his owne inventions and makes himselfe like that woman in the Gospell g Luke 13.11 which was so bowed together that shee could in no wise lift up her selfe But as the eye is placed in the head to looke upward so is the heart in the body open to contemplate on heavenly things For if you looke into an Anatomy you shall see that the heart is broad above and narrow below signifying it should bee open toward Heaven but contracted toward the things of this life The windowes of our spirituall temples our bodyes must be built like the windowes h 1 King 6 4. of Solomons Temple at Hierusalem broad without toward Heaven and narrow within But such is the nature and disposition of the sonnes of Adam that Maryes choyce cannot content them that Vnum necessarium Luk. 10.40 42. that one thing that is needfull to sit and heare Christ and to be busied about heavenly things but with Martha wee are too much cumbred with earthly affaires we do not first k Mat. 6.3 seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof as good Christians should doe but wee are carefull about earthly things as the Gentiles used to doe Some writers make mention of some people that goe upon all foure I feare there are many such people in England that by grovelling upon earth and earthly things This is the Divells policy who labours that dust should be our meat as it is the Serpents l Gen. 3.14 that we should bee not onely filii terrae made of the earth as indeed we are but toti terrei altogether earthy both in our minds and affections But though man bee made in terra m Pet. Lomb. Senâ— lib. 2. dist 14. exterra non tamen ad terra nec propter terram sed ad coelum propter coelum in the earth and of the earth yet hee is not made to the earth nor for the earth but to Heaven and for Heaven Wherefore then lay you out your money for that which is no bread Are wee not all strangers and pilgrims in this life if we be not we shall never be Citizens in the life to come And therefore as worldly so spirituall pilgrims must carry nothing but things necessary The Patriark Iacob in his journey to Padan Aran n Gen 28.20 desired onely bread to eate and rayment to put on So Gods children in their journey towards Heaven desire only a viaticum sufficient to suffice them by the way The two things that hinder us in our journey towards Heaven are sinne and earthly superfluity for it is as hard o Mat. 19.24 for a rich man to enter into the Kingdome of Heaven as it is for a Camell to goe through the eye of an Needle And therefore first let us disburthen our selves of sinne and lay that burthen on Christ and then disburthen our selves of earthly superfluity and cast that burthen on the poore send our riches before us that wee may the better follow after to Heaven The heathen Oratour can tell us that our life is p Cicero de Sene. commorandi non habitandi locus a place for some short abiding not for a long dwelling Wee are non habitatores terrae sed accolae saith S. Ambrose q De Abrah Patr. Inmates for a time and not permanent livers And to this purpose our life is called r Cicero diversorium an Inne and a cutthroat Inne it is where the signe forward is the Maremayd but backward ship-wracke where the flesh is Hostice and the Divell too commonly host Gluttony is the Cooke drunkennes Tapster and wantonnes Chamberlayne and these are as officious as may bee to give entertaynment but when the reckoning comes to bee paid the hoast the Divell himselfe brings in a long Bill with an Item for this and an Item for that sinne and conscience stands at the Barr and justifies all the end is that prison from whence s Mat. 5.26 thou shalt not come out untill thou hast payd the uttermost farthing Yet many setting their affections on that triple headed Geryon of riches honour and pleasure remember not the time of their reckoning which is at hand when they will want the precious merits of their Saviour to pay the deare price of their sinnes And therefore as the Birds that feed below do build on high so wee though wee live below on earth must build above and lay up our treasure in heaven Si diem mortis nostrae in mente habemus statim ea quae in hoc mundo sunt despicimus saith S. Bernard t De modo benè vivendi Ser. 8. If wee did but consider how short a time wee have to live in this World wee would not set our affections on it but on a better The Hedghog that hath rouled his skin full of Apples when hee comes to the hole hee wipes them all of so hee that hath fethered