Again, in general, observe fi*om hence> seeing the church fetcheth com- parison from doves' eyes, from the body of a man and other things, that tJiere are some beams of excellency in every creature. There is somewhat of
148 BOWELS OPENED. [SeRMON XVI.
God in every creature. This makes the meditation of the creature to be useful. There is none, even the meanest, but it hath a being, and thereby in a sort sets out the being of God. Why doth God style himself a shield, a rock, a buckler, a shadow, and the like ? but to shew that there is some- thing of him in these. And therefore to teach us to rise from them to him, in whom all those excellencies that are scattered in them are united.
In innocency we knew God, and in him we had knowledge of the creature ; but now we are fain to help ourselves from the knowledge of the creature to rise to the knowledge of God.
' His head is as fine gold.' A little in general. See the boldness and largeness of the church's aifections, who, though she had been ill entreated by the watchmen and others, yet is she not disheartened for all this. No ; she goes on and sets out particular commendations of her beloved. Where love hath any strength, no water can quench it. You see the church here found but cold entertainment from the watchmen and others that should have been better.
Nay, she was in desertion, yet she was not discouraged. Nay, not from the desertion that Christ left her in ; but she seeks after him whom her soul loved. Oh ! this is the sign of a true, sanctified soul, touched from heaven, never to give over seeking of Christ ; nor setting out his j)raises. No, though it thinks itself not beloved of Christ. Ask such ones. Do you love God, his children, and his word ? Oh ! you shall have them eloquent. No words are enough to set out their affections.
And this is one reason, which we may note by the way, why God plants in his children, at their first conversion, a sweet love, which we call, * the first love,' that when desertions come they may call to mind what they felt from Christ, and what they bore to him ; and thereupon the church concludes, ' I will return to my first love, for then was I better than now,' Hos. ii. 7. The church here, from what doth she commend her beloved, but from somewhat that was left in her soul, some inward taste of the love of Christ in her ? She called to mind how it was with her before in the former part of this, and in the latter end of the former chapter ; what an excellent estate she had been in. This helped her to recover herself.
Now you may say, WTiy is she so exact in reckoning up so many parti- culars of her beloved, his head, locks, eyes, lips, and such like ?
Why? 1. It is from largeness of aflection. A large heart hath alway large expressions. When we are barren in expressions towards Christ, and of good things, whence comes this but from narrow, poor affections ? The church had large affections ; therefore she had suitable expressions.
And then, 2. She is thus particular, because Christ hath not one but many excellencies. Everything in him is excellent, inward and outward, as his head, &c. For indeed beauty consists not in sweetness of colour only, but in afiinity and proportion of all parts. Now there is all sweet proportion in Christ. So it should be with Christians. They should not have one excellency, but many. Those that receive grace for grace from Christ, John i. 16, have not only head, eyes, hands, and feet good ; but all lovely, 'grace for grace,' answerable to the variety of graces in Jesus Christ, in whom all things jointly, and everj^thing severally, are lovely.
Then, 3. She sheweth her particular care and study, to be exact in this knowledge of Christ. To rip him up and anatomise him thus, from head to foot, it argueth she had studied Christ well, ere she could attain this ex- cellency. So it should be the study and care of every Christian, to study the excellencies of Chi"ist, not only in the gross, to say as much as you have
Cant. V. 10-13.] * his head is as fine gold.' 149
in the Creed ; he was bom for us of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, dead, and buried, &c., which every child can say ; but to be able to particularize the high perfections and excellencies of Christ, as the church here ; to study his nature, offices, the state he was in, and how he carried himself in his humiliation and exaltation ; what good we have by both states, redemption by his abasement ; application of it by his advancement ; what he did for us on earth ; what he doth in heaven ; what in justification, adoption, sanc- tification, and in the glory to come. Study eveiything, and warm the heart with the meditation of them.
This particular spreading and laying open the excellencies of Christ is a thing worthy of a Christian. We make slight work of religion. We can be particular and eloquent enough in other things, but in that wherein all eloquence is too little, how barren are we ! how shamefaced to speak of Christ and his excellencies in base company, as if it wei'e a dishonour ! Let us therefore learn this from the church here, to be much in thoughts and meditations of the excellencies of Christ, and so our expressions will be answerable to our meditations. So the holy fathers that were godly (till another kind of divinity came into the world, of querks* and subtilties) there was none of them but was excellent this way. Paul admirable, accounting ' all dung and dross in comparison of Christ.' In speaking of him, when he begins, he goes on from one thing to another, as if he were ravished, and knew not how nor where to end.