Master Bezaes sermons upon the three chapters of the canticle of canticlesMaster Bezaes sermons vpon the three chapters of the canticle of canticles

THE state and condition in which the Church is represented in the verse going before, teacheth us what that is she meaneth here to say, turning her speech unto her Bridegroom: which is this in sum, that being so driven from post to pillar, so tired & tormented by her bastard and degenerate brethren, and assuring her self of the dilection of her spouse, how ⟨p. 99⟩black and sun-burnt soever she be through this hard and il usage and entertainment she hath had, she now beseecheth him to tell her, where she may find him, to be not only reestablished in her former estate, but which is more, to come nearer unto him then ever she was, to the end she may be the more adorned & beautified by him. This is the sum of that which is taught us in this verse, containing a most excellent and most necessary doctrine, especially for this time wherein we now live, in which the question of the restablishment & reformation of this poor spouse so miserably disfigured by her pastors, is of all others most debated and handled. Now there is not a word in this place which hath not in it a marvellous weight. Let us therefore note, first of all, to whom she speaketh, and then with what a vehement affection she speaketh, and thirdly what she meaneth when she saith, O thou whom my soul loveth &c. She speaketh unto her Bridegroom, her beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ, she protesteth that she speaketh unfeignedly and without hypocrisy, even with the whole affection of her hart: and to induce him to answer her, she maketh mention of her entire amity & love which she beareth him. First of all therefore let us learn here this lesson, that when the question is of returning and bringing back again the Church of God after these desolations, to her true beauty & brightness, we may not talk of seeking the manner and means to do this in our own brain, but we must have an eye unto God, to whom alone it appertaineth, to cloth and trim up his spouse after his own liking: and if we do otherwise, we go about nothing else but to disguise and disfigure her, sometime after one fashion, sometimes after another, as we see it hath happened heretofore in the Christian church, and is much to be feared least it also happen and come to pass in our time.

THE state and condition in which the Church is represented in the verse going before, teacheth vs what that is she meaneth heere to saie, turning her speech vnto her Bridegroome: which is this in summe, that beeing so driuen from post to piller, so tired & tormented by her bastard and degenerat brethren, and assuring her selfe of the dilection of her spouse, how