Loves Intercourse Between the Lamb and His Bride, Treatise · Chapter 2 · Verse 1
Verſ. 1. I am the Roſe of Sharon, and the Lillie of the vallies.
HEre Chriſt expreſſes his own excellency by compariſons, for our capacity, to allure and enamour the ſouls of his Elect, to ſeek, affect, and long after him, as he calls himſelf elſwhere, the Bread of life, the Light of the world, the true Vine, the Truth, the Way, and the Life, &c. And this he may do, becauſe he is the fountain of all goodneſſe and excellency; whereas it is not comly for others, ſo to ſet forth their own praiſe, as Prov. 17. 2. becauſe they have all which is praiſe-worthy from him, to whom onelyonly the praiſe and glory thereof is due.
Firſt then, he is compared to a Roſe, and then to a Lilly; a Roſe of Sharon, or the field, and a Lilly of the Vallies.
This Sharon was a very fruitfull and fair field of paſture▪ whereof we read, 1 Chron. 27. 29. and when the Lord threaneth deſolation to the Land, he ſaies of Sharon, as of the moſt fruitfull part thereof, Eſa. 33. 9. that Sharon ſhall be as a wilderneſſe. And on the contrary, when he promiſes to bleſſe the Land, to the comfort of his People, that ſought him, he ſaies, as Eſa. 65. 10. that Sharon ſhall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor, a place for herds to lie in.
Which flowers, whereunto he is compared, we will conſider conjunctly and more generally; next, ſeverally, and more particularly. Firſt then, as flowers have coelum & ſolum pro parentibus; ſo had he a heavenly Father, and an earthly Mother, that ſo he might be Emmanuel. 2. As flowers ſpring, fade, and ſpring up again the next year; ſo Chriſt nativitate floruit, paſſione exaruit, ſed reſurrectione nunquam ampliùs moriturus refloruit. 3. Their ſeverall colours red and white joyned, make up perfect beaut…, Cant. 5. 9, 10. which was onelyonly in Chriſt, the beauty of holineſſe. Pſal. 110. 3. 4 Theſe are delightfull to the eye, and ſo is Chriſt crucified, the moſt delightfull object that can be to the humbled ſoul, Cant. 5. 10. 5. They are alſo fragrant and ſweet to the ſmell, and ſo is Chriſt, in the means of grace, to the believing and hungring ſoul.
Next to conſider them ſeverally, 1. The redneſs of the Roſe may ſignifie to us (as we ſee alſo, Iſay 63. 1, 2.) the blood ſhed of Chriſt in his paſſion, which he ſhed violently, frequently, univerſally and aboundantly to purge us, and purchaſe to us an eternall inheritance, 2. The Roſe has many prickles with it; and ſo, many are the troubles of the godly who are in Chriſt and get him, but he delivers them out of them all in the end, 3. Roſes diſtilled afford a moſt ſweet and cooling liquor; ſo does Chriſt crucified, and meditated upon, in the ſoul, moſt ſweet comfort, and cooling to a weary and ſcorched conſcience, 4. As, being conſerved and otherwiſe made uſe of, and applyed, it is very cordiall and medicinall even ſo is Chriſt, laid hold on by faith, applyed, and kept: in the ſoul, the moſt ſoveraigne cordiall thereof, and medicinall to the ſickneſs of the ſame.
Now he is called the Roſe of Sharon, or of the field, to ſhow;
1. As flowers, and ſuch ſpecially, are the beauty of the field; ſo is Chriſt the beauty of man-kind, and glory thereof, beyond the Angelicall nature, by aſſuming our nature in his perſon, and ſeating it in glory at the right hand of the father, 2. As ſuch Roſes that grow in fields are not planted by man, ſo neither was Chriſt planted as it were, by man in the womb of the virgin, but conceived by the Holy Ghoſt, 3. As the Roſe in the fields is open to winds, plucking, treading on, and ſuch like; ſo was Chriſt on earth to many ſorts of ſufferings, as Iſay. 53. 4 As there is patent acceſſe for any to ſuch Roſes, ſo is there to Chriſt to any humble and believing ſoul, being like Manna, and the braſen Serpent, 5. As the Roſes of Sharon were counted the faireſt and moſt fragrant or excellent, ſo is Chriſt Jeſus the moſt excellent fragrant and faireſt amongſt men; and, 6. As Sharon was a place of paſture, ſo in ſuch places Chriſt is to be found, as we may ſee, Cant. 1. 7. Joh. 10. Rev. 2. 1. &c.
Secondly he is called a Lill…, which is of white colour, (1.) To denotate his holineſs, which in him is otherwiſe then in in his Church as, v. 2. To wit, 1. Originall, 2. Eſſentiall, 3. Perfect and, 4. Communicative, and Holineſs it ſelf, and no other ſo, (2.) As a Lilly is ſoft and ſmooth, ſo was Chriſt meck and mercifull to the moſt bruiſed reed &c. (3.) It is for divers uſes medicinall, both mollifying and mundifying, &c. And ſo is Chriſt, by his blood and ſpirit.
Next he is called a Lilly in the vallyes, 1. To denotate his own humiliation of himſelfe from the higheſt Heavens to the valley, as it were, of loweſt humiliation in his birth, life, death and buriall, 2. To ſhow us where he is to be found, to wit, in the vallyes of humble hearts, Iſay. 57. 15.
Obſervations.
1. If Chriſt be ſo delightfull, fragrant, and excellent, Let us not deſpiſe him, preferring the ſeeking of vaine and worthleſs trifles of this world farre before him, and being like Martha or Eſau, Matth. 13. 44, 45. but not as Mary, or Jacob. Far leſſe by our wicked lives, let us not tread upon him, and on his blood that he has ſhed for us.
2. Chriſt is called a Roſe of Sharon to ſhow that in the paſture places where his true word is taught and holy Sacraments miniſtred he is to be found, and therefore to ſuch places we ſhould conſcionably and with delight reſort, as David ſaid, I rejoyced when they ſaid, Let us go up to the houſe of the Lord, that there, we may find Chriſt in the uſe of his meanes, as Joſeph and Mary found him in the Temple.
3. Seeing he is alſo called a Lilly of the valleyes, in reſpect of his dwelling in a humble Heart, therefore we ſhould labour to ſubdue our naturall pride of Heart, and learne of him Humility, that ſo for conformity of diſpoſition he may delight to dwell in us here, and bring us to dwell with him for ever hereafter.