184 THE soul's conflict.
grief and shame from his own experience, ' Vanity of vanities,' &c. Eccles. i. 2. Fancy will take fire before we be aware. Little things are seeds of great matters. Job knew this, and therefore made a ' covenant with his eyes,' Job xxxi. 1 ; but a ' fool's eyes are in the corners of the earth,' saith Solomon, Prov. xvii. 24.
Sometimes the ministering of some excellent thought — ^prccclara cogitatio - — from what we hear or see, proves a great advantage of spiritual good to the soul. Whilst St Augustine out of curiosity delighted to hear the elo- quence of St Ambrose, he was taken with the matter itself, sweetly shding together with the words into his heart.* Of later times, whilst Galeaceus Caracciolus, an Italian marquis, and nephew to Pope Paul V., was hearing Peter Martyr reading upon 1 Corinthians, and shewing the deceivableness of man's judgment in spiritual things, and the efficacy of divine truth in those that belong unto God, and further using a similitude to this pui-pose : ' If a man be walking afar off, and see people dancing together, and hear no noise of the music, he judges them fools and out of their wits ; but when he comes nearer and hears the music, and sees that every motion is exactly done by art, now he changes his mind, and is so taken up with the sweet agreement of the gesture and the music, that he is not only delighted therewith, but desirous to join himself in the number. So it falls out, saith he, with men : v/hilst they look upon the outward carriage and con- versation of God's people, and see it differing from others, they think them fools ; but when they look more narrowly into their courses, and see a gracious harmony betwixt their lives and the word of God, then the}' begin to be in love with the " beauty of holiness," and join in conformity of holy obedience with those they scorned before.' This similitude wi'ought so with this nobleman, that he began, from that time forward, to set his mind to the study of heavenly things. f
One seasonable truth falling upon a prepared heart, hath oftentimes a sweet and strong operation. Luther confesseth that having heard a grave divine, Staupicius, say 'that that is kind repentance which begins from the love of God,' ever after that time the practice of repentance was sweeter to him. This speech of his likewise took well with Luther, that in doubts of predestination we should begin from the wounds of Christ, doctrina prades- tinationis incijnt a vidneribits Christi, — that is, from the sense of God's love to us in Christ, we should arise to the grace given us in election before the world was, 2 Tim. i. 9.
The putting of lively colours upon common truths hath oft a strong working both upon the fancy and our will and affections. The spirit is refreshed with fresh things, or old truths refreshed. This made the preacher seek to find out pleasing and acceptable words, Eccl. xii. 10 : and our Saviour Christ's manner of teaching was by a lively representation to men's fancies, to teach them heavenly truths in an earthly, sensible man-
* See the memorable ' confession ' in ' The Confessions ' of Augustine, Book V., xiii. 23 ; xiv. 24. A few words may interest : — ' Though I took no paius to learn
what ho spake, but only to hear how he spake yet together with the words
which I would choose, came also into my mind the things which I would refuse ; for I could not separate them. And while I opened my heart to admit "how elo- quently he spake," there also entered, " how truly he spake ;'' but tliis by degrees.'
t Tlie authority given in the margin is ' Beza in his life.' This is a translation
from the Italian, and was publislied in 1596. No less than two translations into
English are extant : one, 4to, 1008, and another, 4to, 1G12. Sibbes's quotations are
from c. iii. The whole passage is given from the quaint translation of 1G08, in Note d.
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THE SOUL S CONFLICT. 185
ner ; and indeed, what do we see or hear but will yield matter to a holy heart to raise itself higher ?
We should make our fcincy serviceable to us in spiritual things, and take advantage by any pleasure, or profit, or honour which it presents our thoughts withal, to think thus with ourselves, ' what is this to the true honour, and to those enduring pleasures,' &c. ? And seeing God hath con- descended to represent heavenly things to us under earthly tenns, we should follow God's dealing herein. God represents heaven to us under the term of a banquet, and of a kingdom, &c., Luke x. 32 ; our union with Christ imder the term of a marriage, yea, Christ himself, under the name of whatsoever is lovely or comfortable in heaven or earth. So the Lord sets out hell to us by whatsoever is terrible or tormenting. Here is a large field for our imagination to walk in, not only without hui't, but with a great deal of spiritual gain. If the wrath of a king be as the roaring of a lion, Prov. xix. 12, what is the wrath of the King of kings ? If fire be so terrible, what is hell fire ? K a dark dungeon be so loathsome, what is that eternal dungeon of darkness ? If a feast be so pleasing, what is the ' continual feast of a good conscience ?' Prov. xv. 15. If the meetmg of friends be so comfortable, what will our meeting together in heaven be ? The Scripture, / by such like terms, would help our faith and fancy both at once. A sane- ''' tified fancy will make every creature a ladder to heaven. And because childhood and youth are ages of fancy, therefore it is a good way to instil into the hearts of children betimes, the loving of good and the shunning ot evil, by such like representations as agree with their fancies, as to hate hell under the representation of fixe and darkness, &c. Wnilst the soul is joined with the body, it hath not only a necessary but a holy use of ima- gination, and of sensible things whereupon our imagination worketh. What is the use of the sac^'aments but to help our souls by our senses, and our faith by imagination ? As the soul receives much hurt from imagina- tion, so it may have much good thei\:by.