6
he wanted a creature to solace him; when he was compoundod in creation, he must be completed by conjunction; when he had no sin to hurt him, then he must have a wife to help him: It is not good that man should be alone.
Secondly, As it is lengthened to all men: And so it is taken universally, Heb. xiii. 4. Marriage is honourable unto all. It is not only warrantable, but honourable. The whole trinity hath conspired together to set a crown of glory upon the head of matrimony.
1. God the Father. Marriage was a tree planted within tho walls of Paradise; the flower first grew in God’s garden.
2. The Son. Marriage is a crystal glass, wherein Christ and the saints do seo each other’s faces.
3. Tho Holy Ghost, by his overshadowing of tho blessed virgin. Well might tho world when it saw her pregnancy, suspect her virginity; but her matremonial condition was a gravo to that suspicion: without this, her innocency had not prevented her infamy; sho needed a shield to defend that chastity abroad which was kept inviolable at home.
Too many that have not worth enough to preservo their virginity, havo yet will onough to cover their unchastity; turning tho medicine of frailty into the mantle of filthiness. Certainly she is mad that cuts off her leg to get her a crutch; or that venoms her face to wear a mask.
Paul makes it one of the characters of those that should cherish tho faith, 1 Tim. iv. 3. not to forbear marriage; which is not only lawful but also honourable; to forbid which, is damnally sinful, and only taught by the influence of devils. One of the Popes of Rome sprinkles this unholy and impure drop upon it, Carnis pollutionem et immundiliem.
