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…

You are come hither to be contracted in the Lord, that is, of two to be made one: for as god hath knit the bones & sinews together for the strengthening of mens bodies, so he hath knit man & woman together, for the strengthening of their life, because two are firmer than one, & therefore when God made the woman for man,¹ he said;² I will make him a help: showing that man is stronger by his wife. Every marriage before it be knit, should be contracted,³ as it is showed in Exo. 22. 16. & Deu. 22. 28. which stay between the contract and the marriage,⁴ was the time of longing for their affection to settle in,⁵ because the deferring of that which we love, doth kindle the desire, which if it came easily and speedily unto us, would ⟨p. 2⟩make us set less by it.⁶ Therefore we read how Joseph & Mary were contracted before they were married. In the^* contract Christ was conceived, and in the marriage Christ was borne, that he might honour both estates: virginity with his conception, and marriage with his birth. You are contracted but to be married,⁸ therefore I pass from contracts to speak of marriage, which is nothing else but a communion of life between man and woman, joined together according to the ordinance of God.

YOu are come hither to be cō tracted in the Lord, that is, of two to be made one: for as god hath knit the bones & sinews togither for the strengthening of mens bodies, so he hath knit mā & womā togither, for the strēgthening of their life, because two are firmer thē one, & therfore when God made the woman for man,