The sermons of Master Henry Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…The sermons of Maister Henrie Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…

Of all the suitors which come unto you, it seems there is none which hath any title to claim the heart but God, which challengeth it by the name of a son:¹ as if he should say, thou shalt give it to thy Father, which gave it to thee: art thou my son? My sons give me their hearts, and by this they know that I am their father, if I dwell in their hearts, for the heart is the temple of God,² therefore if thou be his son, thou wilt give him thy heart, because thy Father desires it, thy Maker desires it, thy Redeemer desires it, thy Saviour desires it, thy Lord, & thy King, & thy master desires it,³ which hath given his Son for a ransom, his Spirit for a pledge, his Word for a guide, the World for a walk, and reserves a kingdom for thine inheritance. Canst ⟨p. 282⟩thou deny him any thing, which hath given the heir for the servant, his beloved for his enemy, the best for the worst? Canst thou deny him any thing, whose goodness created us, whose favour elected us, whose mercy redeemed us, whose wisdom converteth us, whose grace preserveth us, whose glory shall glorify us?⁴ O, if thou knewest (as Christ said to the woman of Samaria, when she huckt to give him water) if thou knewest who it is which saith unto thee, Give me thy heart, thou wouldest say unto him as Peter did, when Christ would wash his feet,⁵ Lord, not my feet only, but my hands, and my head; not my heart only, but all my body, and my thoughts, & my words, and my works, and my goods, and my life, take all that thou hast given. For why should we not give him our hearts aswell as our lips, unless we mean to deceive him with words for deeds?

Of all the suters which come vnto you, it seemes there is none which hath anie title to claime the heart but God, which challengeth it by the name of a sonne:¹