is in them John 2.24 25. He knows the State the Spirits the Frames the Thoughts the Ends the Counsels the Wayes the Wants the Burthens the Temptations of all In a word he is infinite in Wisdom and Counsel and he knows perfectly as how to promote his own Glory so how to defend save and comfort his Spouses and carry on their happiness in the best way O who would not have such an Husband Soul if thou reject him know that his Wisdom will fight against thee and he does know how to damn and destroy for ever V. Are you for Beauty That takes with most for this none like Christ For Beauty and Comeliness he infinitely surpasses both Men and Angels We read of Moses that he was exceeding fair and of David that he was ruddy and of a beautiful countenance and Josephus reports of the one of them that all that saw him were amazed at and enamoured on his beauty O but what was their beauty to Christs Were their beauty and with theirs the beauty of Men and Angels put together it would all be nothing to the Beauty of Christ Not so much as the light of a Farthing-Candle is to the light of the Sun at noon-day He is Beautiful and Glorious Isa 4.2 Was Moses fair Christ is infinitely more fair He is fairer than the Children of Men Psal 45.2 And had you an eye to behold his Beauty you could not but be amazed at it and enamoured on it Was David ruddy and of a beautiful Countenance See what the Spouse says of Christ Cant. 5.10 My Beloved is white and ruddy the chiefest of ten thousand which notes the perfection of his Beauty and therefore she concludes all with this having spoken of the Beauty of his several parts He is altogether lovely vers 16. or he is all loveliness as if she should say What do I do there is no end of his beauty and amiableness there is nothing in him but what is lovely and there is nothing lovely but what is in him neither is there any thing in the whole Creation that has beauty and amiableness enough in it to be a shadow and resemblance of his beauty and amiableness O fair Sun sayes Rutherford and fair Moon and fair Stars and fair Flowers and fair Roses and fair Lillies but O ten thousand thousand times fairer Lord Jesus Alas I have wronged him sayes he in making the comparison this way O black Sun and Moon but O fair Lord Jesus O black Flowers and black Lillies and Roses but O fair fair ever fair Lord Jesus O black Heaven but O fair Christ O black Angels but O surpassingly fair Lord Jesus In short Divines observe that there is somewhat in Christ more amiable than Salvation and indeed there are those Heart-indearing Beauties those Soul-ravishing excellencies in the person of this Beloved that are unspeakably beyond Salvation it self He is the brightness the lustre the shining forth of his Fathers Glory Heb. 1.2 O who would not be ravished with and enamoured on his Beauty A small sight and report thereof set the Daughters of Jerusalem a seeking after him Cant. 6.1 And shall it have no influence upon you to draw and allure you to him Does one so fair and beautiful make love to such black and deformed Creatures as you and I are and shall we refuse him Shall we reject this lovely Lord O that his Beauty might enamour us VI. Are you for Love as well as Loveliness for a sweet kind loving Disposition This is desirable to all for this also none like Christ He is of a most sweet loving tender affable Disposition He indeed is love it self kindness it self Deus est totus amor totus amabilis et totus amans nostri Dix tenderness and compassion it self God is love 1 Joh. 4.16 His love to his Spouses has all dimensions heights breadths depths lengths in it Yea it passes Knowledg Mensuratione isthac dilectionis illius immensurabilitatem immensitatem indicat Apostolus Glas Rhet. Sac. Ephes 3.18 19. which shews the immensity and unmeasurableness of his love as if he should say of it 't is higher than Heaven and deeper than the Sea 't is broader than the Orb of the Earth and longer than all Time during throughout Eternity yea and it passes Knowledge There are two things which exceed our knowledge our Sins and Christs Love the one is almost the other is altogether boundless and bottomless Though a man has never so many accomplishments to commend him yet if he be of a rough crabbed soure disposition this renders him unacceptable for such a Relation But to all his other perfections Christ has this added That he is infinitely loving as well as lovely and of a most kind tender disposition to his Spouses Hence we read in Scripture of his Love his Kindness his Meekness his Gentleness and the like all noting the admirable sweetness and amiableness of his Disposition he wept over his very enemies even them that finally refused him Luk. 19.41 42. Yea he had a kindness for his Murtherers and prayed for them and that whilst they were murthering of him yea and his Prayer carried many of them to Heaven Luke 23.34 O what love what kindness their must he have for his Spouses He that has love for Enemies and such love what must he have for his Friends 'T is a sweet gloss which one of the Ancients has upon the place last quoted Pater ignosce illis O Verbum summi Patris Verbo conveniens orat non solum pro persequentibus calumniantibus sed etiam pro occidentibus sed Pater inquit q. d. Per dilectionem Paternam qua unum sumus supplico tibi ut exaudtas me pro his occisoribus meis ignoscendo agnosce Filii tui amicitiam ut inimicis ignoscas Bern. de pass Dom. Father forgive them they know not what they do This sayes he is a Word becoming the eternal Word the Word of the eternal Father he prayes not onely for his Persecutors and Reproachers but even for his Murtherers improving all his interest in his Father for them saying in effect Father I intreat thee by that fatherly love thou hast for me and by which we are one hear me for these my Murtherers in forgiving of them own the love of thy Son that thou mayest pardon his enemies O what kindness does this argue In a word his love is as an Ocean which has neither brim nor bottom neither can he but be kind to his The Law indeed of kindness as 't is said of the good Wife Prov. 31.26 is in his lips yea and in his heart and carriages too all being full of love Oh! that his love might draw you Surely no love like his love none so full none so free none so sweet none so fruitful none so ravishing none so lasting his love where he loves never fails nor can it ever be broken off Who shall separate us sayes the Apostle from the love of
thou seest thy self inwardly Black and deformed thou lyest in thy Blood and gore wallowing in thy sin and Filth neither is there any worth any Beauty in thee for which Christ should desire thee and therefore sayest thou surely Christ will have nothing to do with me nor so much as cast an eye or look of love upon me but soul this shall not stand between Christ and thee neither but if thou hast a mind to him he will Marry thee to himself notwithstanding For indeed Christ Marries not any for their Beauty but those whom he Marries he Marries to make them Beautiful He Marries them not for any worth of theirs but to put a worth upon them indeed there are none that he Espouses to himself but he finds them Black and deformed in their Blood and Gore as well as thee and so they are till he puts his Beauty upon them how sweet is that word Ezek 16.6 7 8. When I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thy Blood i. e. in thy sin and filth I said unto thee live I said unto thee when thou wast in thy Blood live yea when thou wast in thy Blood live Mark three times he mentions it in thy Blood in thy Blood in thy Blood To note the depth of that defilement we are all under well and what then will Christ have any thing to do with such yes he makes love to them Behold thy time was the time of love he Marries them to himself in an Everlasting Covenant I spread my Skirt over thee sayes he and covered thy makedness yea I swear unto thee and entred into Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine Yea not only so but he puts a Beauty yea his own Beauty and comliness upon them hou art come to Excellent Ornaments and art comely through my comliness which I have put upon thee as Verse 14. O soul be not discouraged Christ will turn thy blackness into Beauty and not cast thee off because of it 3. Is it the greatness and Hainousness of thy sin and guilt O my sins my sins sayes the poor foul they are exceeding many and exceeding great they are many and great in themselves and they are cloathed with many and great aggravations Few in the World ever sinned at that rate that I have done therefore I fear that Christ will never own me so as to take me into such a Relation with himself Well be it so yet know that this shall not stand between Christ and thee if thou art willing to be Espoused to him He has promised to pardon great sins and to accept notwithstanding great sins in case the soul be but willing 〈◊〉 non says he And let us Reason together though your sins are as Scarâ—e◠〈◊〉 shall he white as Snow though they are red like Crimson they shall he as Hool Isa 1.18 Pecata vâ—stra sicut nix albescont c. Uoc est vos a peccatis 〈◊〉 iâ—â—mibas mundati 〈◊〉 niâ—is puâ—i eritis â—lais Gâ—ar Sâ—c Though your Sins are as Scarlet and as Crimsâ—â— i. e. Though they are great foul enormous Sins Sins of a hainous and crying nature and cloathed with the greatest aggravations yet they shall be White as Snow and Wool i. e. They shall be fully done away and pardon'd so fully done away and pardon'd as if they had never been So again Isa 43.24 25. in the 24 v. He speaks to some who had made him to serve with their Sins and wearied him with their iniquities These surely were great Sinners and their sins of a hainous crying nature and yet at the 25 v. what a full promise of pardon does he make to them I even 1 am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy Sins Poor Soul what shall I say Hast thou abundantly sinned Hast thou multiplied sins He has promised abandantly to pardon and to nothing pâ—â—dons Isa 55.7 Art thou guilty of all manner of sins and to thy other sins hast thou added Blasphemy He has promised that all manner of sin and Blâ—â—phemy shall be for given except that against the holy Ghost which thy complaining of the greatness of thy sins argues thou art not guilty of Mat. 12.31 O Soul be not discouraged because of the greatness of thy sins Christ marries souls not because they are not sinners great sinners but he Marries them to take away their sins and to discharge them from them for even And the greater thy sins are the greater will be the Glory of Christ's grace which is what he Aims at in receiving of thee into so near and Glorious a Relation with himself as this is Besides what wilt thou do with thy great sins unless thou goest with them to Christ Great sins argue a great need of Christ and call for great hastening unto Christ 4. Is it any former neglects or refusals of thine Possibly not onely are thy sins many and great but there is this added to all the rest long and frequent refusals of Christ and his love He has often called but thou hast given gim no answer he has long woo'd thee but thou hast not complied with him O the many sweet calls Gracious offers loving tenders which he has made to thee and thou hast Despised And this makes thee fear that he will now have nothing to do with thee And truly soul this is sad very sad hereby Christ has lost much Glory which thou mightest have brought him hereby thou hast lost much sweet communion which thou might est have enjoyed hereby Christ's heart has been much grieved which might have been prevented and hereby the work is made much more difficult then at first it was thy heart being grown more hard and Corruptions more strong Thus 't is every way very sad that thou hast thus neglected and refused Christ but yet neither shall this stand between him and thee in case thou art willing to be Espoused to him For this see Prov. 1.20 21 22 23. Wisdom Cryeth without she uttereth her voice in the Streets she cryeth in the chief place of concourse in the openings of the gates in the City she uttereth her words saying How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity And the Sconners delight in their Scorning and Fools hate Knowledge Turn you at my reproof Behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you I will make known my words unto you Pray observe Christ had offered himself and his love to them but they had refused him and it yea they had refused long and refused with much contempt How long ye Simple ones will ye love Simplicity c. They scorn'd the offers of Christ and his Love and yet here he renewes those offers to them wherein he tells them that none of all their refusals should prejudice their acceptance with him in case they are willing to be his Turn ye at my reproof behold I will pour out my Spirit c. And soul do not the most
approve of him as such See that the desire of your Souls be indeed towards him above all others View him till you fall in love with him yea till you fall sick of love for him and be sure not to rest till you get your Wills sweetly and powerfully determined upon him so determined upon him as to make a free solemn deliberate choice of him passing by all other Lovers and taking him alone into the bosom and embraces of your Faith and Love Now that you may be sure to make a right choice of Christ such a choice of Christ as may make him yours and tie the Marriage Knot between him and you observe herein these five or six great Rules 1. Be sure that you chuse and embrace Christ himself and not somewhat else instead of him 'T is a great and awakening saying which a worthy Divine has Many now sayes he take Christ by guess but be sure that it be he and onely he whom ye embrace his sweet Smell his lovely Voice his fair Face his gracious working in the Soul will soon tell if it be he or no. So say I be sure that it be he many mistake the Object they close with somewhat else instead of Christ at best they chuse Christ's Portion his Benefits his Priviledges his Purchases but not his Person But my advice to you is pitch on nothing short of the Person of Christ then is our Raith beyond all doubt rightly pitch't upon Christ when Christ himself not his Benefits and Priviledges onely are chosen and embraced by us A Marriage if right is between Person and Person not between Person and Portion Person and Estate that being a resulting thing So here in this Spiritual-Marriage Faith does not marry the Soul to the Portion Benefits and Priviledges of Christ but to Christ himself True I don't say first but that true Faith gives the Soul an interest in all the Benefits Priviledges and Purchases of Christ Nor secondly do I say that the Soul may not have an eye to these and a respect to these in his choice of and close with Christ yea usually these are the first thing that Faith has in its eye The first thing the Soul looks at and is taken with when he is drawn to Christ usually is that Peace that Pardon that Righteousness that deliverance from Sin Death and Hell which he sees is found and treasured up in Christ for Souls But though these things be so yet the Soul does and must go higher he must look at and pitch upon the Person of Christ or his Faith is not so right and compleat as it ought to be Alas 't is the Person of Christ that is the great Fountain of all Grace and all Manifestations from God to us and Faith accordingly does close in with his Person The Spouses Faith seems so to do Cant. 5.10 She had her eye upon the personal Beauty and Glory of Christ and accordingly embraced him with her Faith and Love Hence also you have so often those expressions I sought him whom my Soul loved and saw you him whom my Soul loveth Her love and so her Faith was fixt upon Christ himself and thus do you fix your Faith and Love upon him so shall you be sure not to miss of a Conjugal-Union and Communion with him 2. Be sure that you chuse a whole Christ and not a part of him only My meaning is see that you chuse and embrace Christ in all his Offices as a King as well as a Priest as a Lord as well as a Saviour and as in all his Offices so for all those ends and uses for which God has designed him and the Gospel revealed him to us for Holiness as well as Righteousness for Sanctification as well as Justification I need not tell you that Christ is a Lord and King as well as a Saviour and that as such he is revealed and offered in the Gospel to our Faith Him hath God exalted a Prince and Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins Acts 5.31 and they that will have him as a Saviour to give them pardon must have him as a Prince to give them repentance And you know Christ's Rest and his Yoke go together in the Gospel-Offer Mat. 11.28 29. Nor need I tell you that God has appointed him and the Gospel reveals him to be our Sanctification as well as our Justification So you have it expresly 1 Cor. 1.30 Accordingly then do we chuse Christ and embrace him aright when we chuse and embrace him under each notion when we chuse and embrace him not as a Saviour only but as a Lord too not onely as a Priest to procure pardon and reconciliation for us but also as a Prince to rule govern and command us not only as our Righteousness to justifie us but as a Fountain of Grace to make us holy and thus true Faith does chuse and embrace him Isa 45.24 Surely shall one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength Mark Faith chuses Christ not only for Righteousness but for Strength too Righteousness for Justification Strength for Holiness and Sanctification Christ's language to the Soul in the tender of himself is such as this Poor Soul thou art in a dead lost undone condition God is wroth with thee Hell gapes for thee Justice calls aloud for vengeance against thee and there is no hope no help no salvation for thee but in and by me and union with me And loe I am willing to bestow my self with all my fulness upon thee But remember this that I 'le rule and command thee If I be thy Saviour I 'le be thy Lord and King too If thou wilt share in my Redemption thou must be content to bear my Yoke to bow to my Scepter to submit to my Laws and Kingdom Accordingly Faith's answer if right is this Content Lord 't is but fit that he that Saves should rule and reign that he that Redeems should be bowed and submitted to and I do willingly give up my self to thy holy and spiritual Government thy Yoke is easie thy Scepter is Righteouss thy Kingdom is full of Peace and Joy and I desire to come under them I would have thee to make me holy as well as righteous to subdue this rebellious heart of mine and to rule in me by thy pure Spirit as well as to save me by thy perfect obedience O see that thus you chuse and embrace whole Christ else your Faith is not right nor are you like to attain unto a Conjugal-Union and Communion with him 3. Be sure that you chuse Christ singly and alone and not joyn somewhat else with him Some are for compounding with Christ they would joyn somewhat else in Partnership with him but as Christ must not be divided so neither will he be compounded he will be all or nothing at all to Souls and so true Faith closes with him Hence with the new Creature Christ is said to be all and in all Col. 3.11
and shall reign with him for ever Rev. 1.6 In Christe beatam immortalitatem gloriam possidemus Calv. in loc Is he in Heaven in possession of happiness and glory so are they Hence they are said to sit together with him in heavenly places Ephes 2.6 What shall I say his glory is theirs The glory which thou gavest me saith he to his Father I have given them John 17.22 Yea all his divine fulness is theirs and how empty and imperfect soever they are in themselves yet they are perfect and compleat in him and in his fulness Col. 2.9 10. In him dwelleth all the fulness of the God-head bodily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h. e. Verè perfectissimè immutabiliter non typicè tantum ut in Templo Hierolosolymitane Glas Rh. Sac. bodily that is truly perfectly unchangeably and not typically only as in the Temple of old All the fulness and perfection of the God-head dwelleth truly and perfectly in him Et estis in ipso completi q. d. quod retus Deus in Christo resldet ideo ut ipsum adepti solidam in ipso perfectionem pollideamus Calv. in Col. 2.10 And what then why it follows and ye are compleat in him q.d. You are poor and empty things in your selves but your Head and Husband hath all the fulness of the God-head in him and it is alwayes in him for it dwelleth in him and it is all yours and you do communicate with him in all so far as you are capable of it to compleat you both in Grace and Glory Thus Christ communicates himself unto the Believer and admits him into a participation with him in all he is and hath On the other hand Christ partakes and holds communion with Believers in all they are and have And what is their All truly a poor All in and of themselves they have nothing but sins and sorrows guilt and afflictions Indeed in marrying of them he gives them Gifts Graces Comforts and the like and having given them these he holds communion with them in all their Gifts and Graces their Joys and Comforts are his but I say in and of themselves they have nothing but sorrows and sins and he in a sort holdeth communion with them in both he holds communion with them in their sorrows hence it is said that in all their afflictions he is afflicted Isa 63.9 He looks upon their sorrows as his and their sufferings as his I was an hungry and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty naked imprisoned c. Mat. 25.35 36. And often you know in Scripture their Sufferings and Afflictions are called the Sufferings and Afflictions of Christ And why the Sufferings and Afflictions of Christ not onely because for the most part they suffer for his sake but also because he suffereth and is afflicted in them * Christus nominat suas iniquitates quia sensit in se translata esse peccata omnium nostrsim seque propter haec plecti non aliter ac si ipse se mois tuis omnium hominum scaeleribus polluisset Mol. and with them He communicates with them in their afflictions And as in their sorrows so also in some sort in their sius too Hence he calls their sins as well as their afflictions his Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me Psal 40.12 Which Luther and others understand of Christ speaking of our sins and calling them his Not my Beloved that he doth admit of any the least stain or tincture of sinful defilement upon himself but he so looks upon our sins as his as to take them off from us and looks upon himself responsible to the Fathers justice for them so he was said to be made sin for us * Ipse peccatum non suum sed nostrum nec in se sed in nobis factus est Aug. 2 Cor. 5.21 O what Grace is here I close this head with a great and sweet saying which I have read in one of the Ancients sutable to this purpose †Non sunt inventa aeque dulcia nomina quibus Verbi animaeque dulces adinvicem exprimerentur asfectus quemadmodum sponsus sponsa quippe quibus omnia communia sunt nil proprium nil a se divisum habentibus una utriusque haereditas una domus una mensa unus thorus una etiam caro Bern. Serm. 7. in Cant. The like sweet Names are not to be found by which the sweet Affections of Christ and the Soul are expressed each to other as those of the Bridegroom and the Bride for why all things are common with thent nothing proper having nothing separate and apart each from other they have both one Inheritance one House one Table one Marriage-bed also one flesh The sum is they communicate with each other in all they are and have IV. This Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers carries in it strong and ardent Affection In a Marriage-relation there is the dearest strongest and most intimate Affection that is to be found among the Children of Men 'T is a Relation made up of love Love is not only a concomitant of Marriage but it is even a part of it and is essential to it In Marriages Hearts must be joyned as well as Hands or they are not right So here in this Spiritual-espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers there is a very dear and intimate Affection each to other their hearts are indeed knit and do intimately cleave to one another The Saints sayes one are called the Spouse of Christ Propter amoris magnitudinem because of that great and unparallel'd love that is between them And it is a sweet saying which I have read in one of the Antients to this purpose Christus se sponsum nostrum appellat ut magni tudinem insinuet sui amcru qui tempore non decrescit amicam suam sponsam non uxcrem eo quodillius amer semper novus st Bern. de pass Dom. Christ sayes he calls himself our Bridegroom that he might insinuate the greatness of his love to us which decayes not with time and he calls us his Spouse not his Wife noting that our love to him should be alwayes new alwayes lively and vigorous The truth is no love like that between Christ and his Spouse Christ loves and espouses and the Soul loves and is espoused and both being espoused do love for ever and so this relation is both founded in love and perfected in love 't is both made up and managed with love on all hands Christ sets his love upon the Soul and in that love espouses him to himself and having in this love of his espoused him to himself then he loves him as his Spouse often in the Book of Canticles his Spouse is called his Love as also he on the other hand is called her Beloved and what doth this note but that the whole relation consists mainly in love and that they are most dearly and intimately beloved by each other Christ
having espoused the Soul to himself now his love runs out in full streams towards him he loves him above all the rest of the Creatures in some respects above the Angels themselves as standing in a nearer relation to him than they do On the other hand the Souls love is drawn out to Christ and loving him he is espoused to him and being espoused to him he loves him yet more now Christ is laid between his breasts in his most intimate Affections he has the Throne in his heart Cant. 1.13 yea the Soul by degrees comes to be sick of love to him as you have it Cant. 2.5 Stay me with Flagons sayes she comfort me with Apples for I am sick of love to whom to Christ And truly this as one of the Antients hath observed is a sweet sickness a blessed languor Hic amor dulcis hic languor sica vis haec infirmit at sancta Bern. a pleasant love And this love between Christ and his Spouse is a chast love a Virgin love a love that is pitched upon the person of each other Christ loves the person of the Believer and the Believer loves the Person of Christ Of which more in its place V. This Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers carries in it a mutual rest and complacency for ever In a Marriage-relation there is great delight and complacency the Parties have or should have each in other especially in the day of Espousals You know how Solomon speaks Rejoyce with the Wife of thy Youth let her be as the loving Hind and pleasant Roe let her Breasts satisfie thee at all times and be thou ravished alwayes with her love Prov. 5.18 19. All noting that joy rest and complacency that that relation carries in it and the Parties have in each other and we read you know of the joy of the Bridegroom as the highest and purest that is found among the Sons of men Non ille aliam velit amitam nec ego amicum alium uterqe alterius actore contentus est Merc in Cant. 2.16 So in this spiritual Espousals between Christ and Believers there is a mutual rest and complacency which they have in each other They are as it were the rest the joy the satisfaction of each other the solace of each others Soul On the one hand Christ rests and rejoyces in the Believer as one would do in the Wife of his Youth This his Spouse is to him as a loving Hind and pleasant Roe and he lives joyfully with her hence she is called his delight and that as being married to him Thou shalt be called Hephzibah Vecaberis Chephziba h. e. ita exornata amaena eris ut volupt as mea in te futura st Glas Gra. Sac. sayes he to her for the Lord delighteth in thee thou shalt be the joy and delight of my Soul Isa 62.4 And again As a young man marryeth a Virgin so shall thy Sons marry thee and as the Bridegroom rejoyceth over the Bride so shall thy God rejoyce over thee vers 5. The sum of all which amounts to this That Christ marrying his People to himself delights in them and rejoyces over them and that with the highest and purest delight and complacency of all others a delight and complacency sutable to the relation The truth is he speaks as if all his delight were in them as if he had forgotten to delight in the Angels or in any of the works of his hands but in them alone My goodness sayes he to the Father extendeth not to thee but to the Saints in whom is all my delight Psalm 16.2 Yea he declares himself ravished with them as his Spouse Cant. 4.9 Thou hast ravished my heart my Sister my Spouse thou hast ravished my heart And he speaks as one ravished indeed Cant. 7.6 How fair and pleasant art thou O Love for delight and Chap. 6. v. 5. he acknowledges himself captivated by her Turn away thine eyes from me for they have overcome me Yea he has declared them to be his Rest Psal 132.14 This is my rest for ever sayes he here will I dwell for I have desired it It 's spoken of Zion as a Type of the Church and Spouse of Christ and his rest in her and indeed they are his Rest his Soul is at rest in them in them is his highest joy Hence that sweet word Zeph. 3.17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will rejoyce over thee with joy he will rest in his love upon thee he will joy over thee with singing as much as to say his whole rest solace and delight shall be in thee On the other hand the Believer rests and rejoyces in Christ as in his Head and Husband I sat down under his shadow sayes the Spouse with great delight Cant. 2.3 She did suaviter requiescere as one expresses it sweetly rest and repose her Soul in him Her Soul was at rest and filled with delight great delight she had great springings of joy within her and all this in Christ her Bridegroom in his Person in his Presence in his Protection in the fruits of his Grace and Love And therefore it follows and his Fruit was sweet to my taste as if she should say O with what joy what solace what delight and satisfaction of Soul did I converse with him and feed upon him Thus in these Espousals there is a mutual delight and fatisfaction between Christ and Believers and O how sweet is this this makes this Espousal to relish strongly of Heaven and to set the Soul down even at the Gate thereof Thus I have shewen you what this Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers is CHAP. III. In which the way and means of the accomplishment of this Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers is enquired into and a general account thereof given HAving seen somewhat of the nature of the Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers the next thing to be enquired into is How this Espousal or Relation is made up and accomplished To be sure naturally we are all strangers to it and unacquainted with it being as the Apostle speaks without Christ that is without union with him or any spiritual Relation to him Ephes 2.12 But how then and in what way is it brought about In general it is from Divine Grace the Grace of God in Jesus Christ acting and laying out it self for us and upon us and it is from Divine Grace two wayes or as that Grace carries a double opposition with it First As it stands in opposition to any thing of worth or deservings in us and so it flows from the riches of Divine Grace as its onely Spring and Fountain And secondly as that Grace stands in opposition to any thing of power or ability in us and so it is effected by the Power of Divine Grace as its Principle and Esticient Accordingly take this General in these two Propositions I. This Espousal or
Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers flows from the Riches of Divine Grace as its onely Spring and Fountain that any of the Sons of Men are Married or Espoused to Christ is not from any thing of worth or deservings in them but purely and entirely from free Grace and Love dwelling and working in the heart of God and Christ towards them and this account the Scripture gives us of it Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with in everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I deawn thee as if he should say I have drawn thee out of thy sins out of thy unbelief out of all thy carnal rests and refuges and I have drawn thee to my self into union and communion with my self into a Marriage-covenant and Relation with my self and all this from mine own free love that love that kindness that has been in my heart towards thee from everlasting So again Hos 2.19 I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies Mark It is mercy and loving kindness which espouses Souls to Christ * Despensat nos Deus Christo nallis nostris meritis addis biss sed ex sua tantum bonitate misericordia Zanch. God sayes one upon this place espouses us to Christ indu ed thereunto by no merits of ours but by his own goodness and mercy And indeed my Beloved what have we or what have any of the sons of men that should speak the one or the other worthy of a conjugal-relation to Christ or that should invite and induce him to take us into such a relation to himself Have we Birth or Parentage to induce him No alas as to our state we are all of the brood of Hell and thence as sinners we all have our descent and original John 8.44 Have we beauty and arniableness No for we are all black and deformed in our selves we have the spirit of the Devil in us and the image of the Devil upon us we are blind and deaf and dumb and lame and crooked so the Scripture speaks of us in our natural state we are all in our blood and gore cast out into the open field to the loathing of our persons Ezek. 16.5 6. And as their case is represented Isa 1.6 such is ours spiritually Even from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness in us nothing but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores In a word we are all sin and have nothing but sin Know O Spouse of Christ Scito sponsa Christi te a teipso nthil habere nisi peccata Bona vero omnia gratiae sponsitui sunt gratulare ergo i. e. gratias age et Bern. de pass Dom. sayes one of the Ancients that thou hast nothing of thy self but sins as for all thy good things they are the Grace of thy Bridegroom to thee to whom therefore give the glory of it I say we have nothing but sins and is there any beauty any comeliness in that to attract an Holy Jesus Surely no. Have we Riches and Treasures No for indeed we are poor and miserable and blind and naked Rev. 3.17 Treasures it is true we have but they are black ones treasures of sin and wickedness treasures of guilt and wrath which surely cannot render us worthy but most unworthy of such a Relation Have we wisdom and parts to invite him No we are altogether bruitish and foolish Jer. 10.8 Wise we are but it is to do evil to do good we have no knowledge Jer. 4.22 Have we love and kindness in us towards him good-nature No for naturally we love him not yea we hate him and are enemies to him Luk. 19.14 We hate both him and the Father as he charged the Jews of old Yea we are enmity it self to him Rom. 8.7 We are enemies to his Person to his Kingdom to his Grace to his Righteousness to his Wayes and to all acquaintance and communion with him Thus we have nothing to induce him to take us into such a Relation at the best we are but poor worms whose Foundation is in the dust And what can it be but free and rich Grace in Christ to marry and espouse such unto himself II. This Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers is wrought and effected by the Power of Divine Grace as its principle and efficient When Souls are married and espoused to Christ 't is not done by any power or ability of their own nor yet by the power and efficacy of means and instruments but 't is purely from the power and efficacy of Divine Grace Indeed God makes use of Means and Instruments he makes use of the Gospel and Gospel-Ministers for the espousing of sinners to his Son and these are the onely ordinary way and means whereby he doth it therefore sayes the Apostle in my Text I have espoused you to one Husband that is I by my Ministry I by preaching the everlasting Gospel have been an Instrument in God's hand for your espousing to Christ but though God thus makes use of means and instruments in this Work yet still the Work it self is from pure Grace and to Grace doth Christ attribute it excluding all other power but this as sufficient hereunto John 6.44 No man can come to me or believe on me close with me in a Marriage-Covenant except the Father which hath sent me draw him that is except the power of Divine Grace be put forth upon him in order hereunto the drawing here Christ speaks of is comprehensive of the whole business it 's the enabling of us to come to Christ to believe on him and close with him as our Head and Husband Non violenta coactio sad voluntatis a Deo aversae benevola flexio tractione ea innuitur Glas Rhet. Sac. It notes as one observes not any violent coaction or constraint but a sweet bowing of the Will which in it self was averse from and opposite to God and Christ and withal a carrying of the Soul to Christ and an enabling of him to close with him in this Relation and this Christ ascribes wholly to the power of Divine Grace the truth is in and of our selves we have no power or ability for such a work we are without strength Rom. 6.5 Yea when we are brought into Christ by the power of Divine Grace yet then in and of our selves we can do nothing So Christ tells us Joh. 15.5 Without me ye can do nothing Yea when we are brought into Christ and have had some communion with him yet we can't follow after him nor draw one tittle nearer to him unless a fresh influence of Divine Grace be put forth upon us enabling us thereunto so much the Spouse was sensible of and therefore prayes thus Draw me and we will run after thee Cant. 1.4 As if she should say Lord in my self I can't stir one foot towards thee but do thou
at once the Law and Christ but he must be dead to or divorced from the one e're ho can be married to the other Observe ye are dead to the Law What is it to be dead to the Law or divorced from the Law To be dead to the Law is to have no hope no expectation of Life and Righteousness by the Law 't is to be sensible that the Law cannot save us yea there is more in it than so To be dead to the Law is to see our selves dead by the Law 't is to see our selves lost and condemned by the Law for sin as the transgression thereof and thus we must all be dead to the Law or divorced from the Law or we cannot be married to Christ Now this the Spirit of God effects by a work of the Law upon the Conscience He divorces the Soul from the Law by the Law i. e. by bringing home the Law to the Conscience This the Apostle felt in his own Soul I through the Law sayes he that is the Spirit of God bringing home the Law to my Conscience am dead to the Law Gal. 2.19 So again Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed I was alive without the Law once that is I thought my self to be alive I apprehended my state to be good and happy but this was without the Law i. e. before the Spirit of God by the ministry of the Law convinced me of my sin and misery therefore it follows when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed i. e. when the Law came in its convincing power through the Spirit upon my Soul then I saw my sinful dead and miserable state thus was he himself divorced from the Law that he might be married to Christ the sum is this the Spirit of God comes and shews the Soul the strictness and holiness the purity and spirituality of the Law and makes him sensible how large the Duty is that it requires how impossible it is for him to keep it and how many wayes he has broken it he withal lets him see the dreadfulness of that curse and condemnation it has justly laid him under for the breach thereof and thus he is divorced from it and this is all one with the Spirits convincing us of sin and our lost and miserable condition by reason thereof which is you know his first work in order to Faith and so to our espousing to Christ John 16.8 Thus by the Spirit of God the Soul is divorced from the Law he is taken off from all expectations of life and happiness by that and is made to see his own sinfulness and so his infinite need of Christ whereby he is fitted for this other and better Husband II. The Soul being thus divorced from the Law and so fitted and prepared for Christ then the Spirit of God reveals and offers the Lord Jesus Christ in the promise of the Gospel as a better Husband to him Now the blessed Spirit comes and does as Abrahants Servant did who was sent to take a Wife for Isaac he told Rebecca of his Masters Greatness of his Flocks and his Herds his Silver and his Gold his men servants and his maid-servants and withal that he had given all to Isaac Gen. 24.35 36. So the Spirit of God now sets before the Soul the riches and the greatness the beauty and the excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ he tells him what a full what a sweet what a rich what an amiable one he is and withal tenders him to his embraces he reveals and offers him to him as one full of Grace and Truth as one that has all fulness dwelling in him all fulness of Life and Peace or Righteousness and Salvation as one every way able to save him to the very utmost which is that which Christ calls his convincing the World of Righteousness John 16.9 he reveals and offers him to him in the transcendent Beauty Excellency and Amiableness of his Person on the one hand as also in the glorious fulness largeness sufficiency of his Grace and Righteousness on the other hand Thus I say he reveals and offers Christ unto the Soul and withal opens his Glory and causes it to shine forth before him so that now the Soul sees that in Christ that fulness that beauty that love that amiableness that sweetness which he never saw before Christ is now another thing in the Souls eye than ever before he was Now the Soul as those John 1.14 Beholds his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Son full of grace and truth Yea not only does he thus reveal Christ unto the Soul but withal fixes the Souls eye upon him He makes him to pore and gaze upon Christ as the most excellent and amiable Object and as one infinitely needful for him and this is called a seeing of the Son and that in order to believing whosoever seeth the Son and believeth on him shall have everlasting life Joh. 6.40 The blessed Spirit deals by the Soul herein as God by the Angels did with Hagar Gen. 21.19 where 't is said He opened her eyes and she saw a Well of Water for her relief She was in a very distressed condition as you may see vers 15 16. full of bitterness she and her Child both in a perishing condition being in the Wilderness and her Water in the Bottle being spent Now God shews her a Well of Wate whence she fetches a full supply So here the poor Soul having been under the convincing power of the Law sees himself in a woful miserable distessed condition whereupon he is full of bitterness crying out with Hagar How shall I see the Child die How can I bear it to perish eternally But now the Spirit of God comes and opens his eyes and shews him Christ and Christ as infinitely sutable to him Look sayes the Spirit to the Soul being now desolate and undone look here is a Saviour for thee a Husband for thee another and a better Husband than the Law could ever have been even the Lord Jesus Christ who is infinitely able to pay all thy Debts to supply all thy Wants to heal all thy Wounds to relive all thy Distresses to pardon all thy Sins to satisfie all thy Desires to answer all thy Love and to give thee perfect happiness and satisfaction in and with himself for ever Look here he is here he is in the Promise here he is in the Covenant here he is in the Tender Invitation of the Gospel here he is at the very door of thy heart knocking and calling for admission thereunto Rev. 3.20 Here he is with his Arms wide open to receive and embrace thee and that notwithstanding all thy vileness finfulness and unworthiness Look therefore to him and be saved III. With this Tender and Revelation of Christ unto the Soul the Spirit of God comes and works a secret love and longing in the Soul after Christ he
ten thousand times ten thousand of his Holy Ones even thousands of Angels Dan. 7.10 Glorious in his way of Rule full of Grace and sweetness towards his People full of terror and majesty towards his Enemies his Arrows being sharp in their hearts Psal 45.5 And as he governs all now so he will judge all at last and all must stand or fall live or die be saved or damned for ever according to what Sentence he shall pass upon them Acts 17.31 Rom. 14.10 O how great is this Lord and how worthy to be imbraced by us O Sirs will you deny so great so glorious a Person when he makes love to you Should you see some great Prince wooing a Beggar in Rags upon the Dunghil you would wonder to see her slight him and make him wait time after time upon her Why there is an infinitely greater Person than the greatest of Kings that wooes you and sollicites you for your love And will you yet be shie of him and make him wait Will you refuse him Then wonder at your own sordid ingratitude II. Are you for Riches and Treasures This swayes with most for this none like Christ he has Riches as well as Greatness to recommend him to you Riches and Honour are with me Prov. 8.18 Yea and his Riches are the best sort his are Spiritual Riches Treasures in Heaven Matth. 6.20 Riches of Life and Love Peace and Pardon Grace and Glory Righteousness and Salvation Riches of Glory and Riches in Glory And O what poor things are the Riches of this World to these His are true Riches Luke 16.11 The riches of this World are but painted riches his are substantial Riches I will cause them that love me to inherit Substance Prov. 8.21 The riches of this World are vain they are not Prov. 23.5 But the Riches of Christ have a reality in them His are lasting and durable Riches Riches and Honour are with me yea durable Riches and Righteousness Prov. 8.18 Worldly riches are perishing and uncertain things 1 Tim. 6.17 Now we enjoy them but all of a suddain they are gone and disappear but Christs are eternal Riches for an eternal Soul And as his Riches are thus of the best sort so he has great abundance of them his Riches are boundless and unsearchable To me sayes Paul it is given to preach the unsearchable Riches of Christ Ephes 3.8 He is Heir of all things Heb. 1.2 All the Treasures of Heaven and Earth are his He has all fulness dwelling in him Col. 1.19 even all the fulness of the God-head whole God dwells in him He has enough to supply all our wants and to answer all our desires Do we want Grace He is full of Grace John 1.14 Do we want Life With him is the Fountain of Life Psal 36.9 Do we want Redemption redemption from Sin from Death from Hell from Wrath With him is plenteous Redemption Psal 130.7 Do we want Peace He gives peace My Peace I give unto you Joh. 14.27 Do we want Righteousness He has fulfilled all Righteousness he is become the Lord our Righteousness Jer. 23.6 Now will you reject this rich Lord You are poor and miserable and naked and will you not embrace this Christ tendering himself with all these Riches to you O how justly then will you perish for ever O that there were some covetous Soul here this day that would be taken with the Riches of Christ III. Are you for Bounty for a noble and generous Spirit That 's desirable in such a Relation and takes much with many for this also none like Christ He is a bountiful Lord of a noble and generous Spirit as well as Rich Many a Man has riches enough but has a base narrow covetous Spirit and so his Wife has little of them but Christ has a noble generous bountiful heart He is not only rich but he is also willing to lay out all his Riches Treasures upon his Spouses All the Treasures of his Love and Grace all the Treasures of his Righteousness and Consolation He would have them abundantly filled abundantly comforted abundantly enriched for ever What a generous Spirit towards them does he express Cant. 5.1 Eat O Friends Drink yea drink abundantly O Beloved As if he should say I have enough infinitely enough for you and I would have you to have enough I would have you to have your Souls full of all Good He would have them to have full Graces full Joyes full Comforts and full Happiness for ever These things speak I unto you sayes he that your joy may be full John 15.11 And again Ask that you may receive that your joy may be full John 16.24 He wills them like happiness with himself Like love and embraces in the Fathers Bosom Joh. 17.24 26. Like Grace and Holiness John 17.22 O what a noble generous bountiful heart has this sweet Lord towards his Spouse Soul shall it not draw and allure thee to him Nothing will satisfie him less than their participating with him in his own blessedness Soul if thou rejectest this bountiful Lord know that he has Treasures of Wrath and Vengeance also which he will plentifully pour out upon thee for ever IV. Are you for Wisdom and Knowledge Wisdom and Knowledge render a person lovely and desirable 't is indeed one of a persons highest excellencies and perfections for this also none like Christ He is the Wisdom of God and the Power of God 1 Cor. 1.24 The infinite Wisdom of the Eternal God does shine forth in him and through him Yea in him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge Col. 2.3 Which may be understood Actively as well as Passively he knowing all as well as having all that is worth knowing in him He is the only wise God Jude 25. There is no true wisdom but in him and there is no true wisdom to be had but by him and from him he is often in Scripture called Wisdom to note that infinite wisdom that is in him He knows all Persons and all Things he knows the Father and that as he is known of him Joh. 10.15 He knows the Mind and Will of the Father hence said to be in his Bosom which is the place of Secrets as well as Love Joh. 1.18 He knows all his Fathers Counsels and Decrees which have been of old touching the Salvation and Damnation of Man Hence we read of the Lambs Book of Life and Names written therein Rev. 13.8 He knows all the Works of God the Father The Father loveth the Son and sheweth him whatsoever he doth John 5.20 He knows the Attributes and Perfections of God and he only Matth. 11.27 John 4.56 He knows the whole Word of God being himself the Word Joh. 1.1 'T is observed by one that the Angels themselves do not know all the Word of God but Christ does And as he thus knows God and the Things of God so he also knows Man and the Things of Man He knows all men and what
Christ That is nothing can separate us from his love Neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to come nor Heighth nor Depth nor any thing else can do it Rom. 8. 35 38 39. And I think sayes an Holy Man his unchangable love hath said unto me I defie thee to break me or change me Oh sirs experienced Souls will tell you how sweet and good and rich Christ's love is They will tell you one sight one taste of it makes Heaven in the Soul that 't is better than Wine Cant. 1.2 And will you reject him and his love too Will you pour contempt upon so much kindness O how justly then will you perish under his wrath He has wrath in him as well as love wrath for Enemies as well as love for his Spouses and his wrath is as hot and terrible as his love is sweet and comfortable yea his love will if rejected by you turn into wrath and no wrath like that that is the result of abused love Oh therefore close close with Christ this day VII Are you for a Person of esteem one that is much valued and beloved An ingenious Soul would desire this and for this none like Christ As there is none so kind and loving as he so there is none so much valued and beloved as he He is beloved by all whose love is worth the having He is highly valued and beloved by all the Saints both in Heaven and Earth the Saints in Heaven they admire and adore him 't is a part of their happiness to love him and delight in him for ever and the Saints on Earth they love and value him above all others whatever he is the dearly Beloved of their Souls How often does the Spouse call him her Beloved and her Well-Beloved And once and again she declares her self sick of love to him she is enamoured on him he is indeed the desire of all Nations Hag. 2.7 That is to say He whom all the faithful in all Nations do love desire and delight in Hence also that of the Apostle to you that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2.7 The Saints love and value Christ above all their Natural or Creature-Enjoyments above Father and Mother Husband and Wife and Children and Houses and Lands and the like So much is intimated Mat. 10.37 19.29 they love and value him above all their Spiritual Attainments accounting them but Dung for Christ Phil. 3.8 They love and value him above their lives being ready to die for him Acts 21.13 Rev. 12.11 Oh how dear is Christ to Saints He is also highly valued and beloved by all the Holy Angels He is the great object of their Love and Admiration Hence he is said to be seen of Angels that is to be beloved and delighted in by Angels 1 Tim. 3.16 The blessed Angels do see that in Christ which does enamour them on him and fill them with love to him and delight in him yea which does fill them with perpetual admirings and adorings of him Rev. 5.12 Yea which is more than all this He is infinitely valued and beloved by God the Father also The blessed God sees that in Christ that renders him infinitely amiable and desireable in his Eye and to his Soul both as Son and also as Mediator he is even infinitely dear and precious to the Father As he is the Son of God the Son of the Father as the Apostles expression is so is he the Darling and Delight of the Fathers Soul and was so from all eternity so much he himself tells us Prov. 8.30 So he is the infinite and eternal Favorite of the infinite and eternal Father so he is one in essence with the Father and accordingly must be infinitely dear to the Father Hence he is said to be in the Fathers bosom Tilius in sinu Patris est 1. In aeterna generatione 2. In arctissima unitate 3. In ardentissima dilectione 4. In secretissimorum communicatione Glass Rhet. Sac. and as Son he was so from eternity John 1.18 Now the Bosom is the seat of Love and his being in his Fathers Bosom notes that strong ardent intimate love which the Father has for him yea even as Mediator the Father loves him John 3.35 Yea he loves him with a choice a signal and an eminent love with a love of the highest strain the choicest excellency the sweetest influence a love that has a stamp of special glory upon it Hence he is called the Beloved Ephes 1.6 He hath made us accepted in the Beloved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. in Filio sibi gratissimo dilectissimo Zanch. that is in Christ who is most dear to God Hence God calls him his beloved Son This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3.17 Filius dilectionis i.e. Filius dilectissimus Daven in loc Yea he is called the Son of his Love he hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son the Greek is the Son of his Love Col. 1.13 Yea the Father proclaims him to be the delight of his Soul Behold saith he my Servant whom I have chosen mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth Isa 42.1 What shall I say God loves himself infinitely Omnia diligit Deus quae fecit inter ea magis diligit creaturas rationales in illis eas amplius quae sunt membra unigenitisui multo magis ipsum suum unigenitum Aug. and next to himself he loves Christ and delights in him 't is true he loves all the works of his hands as such especially rational Creatures and among them he has a peculiar love for his Saints and the Holy Angels but he loves Christ unspeakably more than all He indeed is first Beloved and most Beloved and best Beloved by him of all others Naturam humanam assumptam a Dei Verbo in Persona Christi Deus plus amat quam omnes Angelos Aqui. God as the School-men observe does love the very flesh or Humane Nature of Christ more than all the Angels In a word he loves him so as that he is even ravished with him and he can't but love all that are in him or related by Covenant to him and that though altogether unlovely in themselves Now Sirs will you not love and embrace this beloved one one that is thus valued and beloved by Saints by Angels and by God the Father And let me say one that is hated and despised by none but Devils and devilish ones Soul if thou reject him whom all the Saints and Angels love admire and adore then never expect to live with them in the fruition of him But reckon upon living with Devils and damned spirits in Hell for ever If thou reject him whom the Father loves and delights in then expect to be rejected both by him and the Father for ever but Soul rather be prevailed with to love him too VIII Are you for Immortality for one that lives for
sying good have you any mind to life and would you have your souls live for ever have you any mind to my Covenant and all the riches and treasures of that then accept of me and my love in whom you shall have all How sweetly do he melt and how tenderly do his Bowels yearn towards them and over them he comes to them not onely with invitations in his Lips but also with tears in his eyes and tender compassions in his heart strongly working towards them now he weeps and then he groans now he drops a sigh and then a tear and all to melt their hard and unbelieving hearts to draw and allure them to himself O Jerusalem Jerusalem says he how often would I have gathered thee Math. 23.37 Repetitis nominis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in dicat amoris commiserationis Pare 9 in Loc. the repetition of the name shews the depth of his love and commiseration towards them And indeed methinks I see how the tender heart of my dear Lord melts and even bleeds over this unbelieving City and in them all unbelieving sinners to whom he offers himself he is melted into tears towards them so you have it Lukt 19.41 42. in Mat. he groans only but in Luke he both Weeps and Groans loe then here is sweet Jesus weeping and groaning here 's the joy of the whole Earth weeping and groaning and that over Jerusalem a bloody City a City embroiled in the blood of his Saints and a City thirsty of his own blood a City full of wickedness full of the contempt of his Gospel his Grace his Salvation How freely and openly does he reveal and offer himself to them The offer Christ makes is not a Limited offer but general and extensive to all nor is it an offer made upon hard and severe terms but upon terms of Grace Love Look unto me and be saved all ye ends of the Earth Isa 45.22 Hot every one that thirsteth come ye to the Waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy Wine and Milk without money and without price Isa 55.1 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11.28 Whoever is a thirst let him come unto me and drink Joh. 7.37 Behold I stand at the door and knock if any Man will hear my voice and open the door I will come in Rev. 3.20 And again Whoever will let him come and take of the Water of Life freely Rev. 22.17 Mark all every one whoever will though never so vile and sinful never so black and deform'd though he has been never so desperate an Enemy to me and my glory Surely were not his heart much in the business he would not thus freely and unlimitedly offer himself How affectionately does he beseech and intreat them The tender trembling Child cannot more affectionately intreat and beseech his offended Father to spare him and be reconciled unto him then Christ does intreat and beseech offending Sinners to be Espoused to him and be made happy by him for ever Now then we are Embassadors for Christ sayes the Apostle as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5.20 Pray mark here is praying and beseeching the Lord of Glory as it were upon his knees to poor Sinners begging them to accept of him and his Love We pray you in Christ's stead h. e. 't is not we but Christ by us that prays and beseeches you O what condescension is this once more How sweetly does he draw and allure them draw me sayes the Spouse and we will run after thee Cant. 1.4 And indeed he does draw and allure Souls and that with admirable sweetness I drew them with Cords of Love with the bands of a man sayes he Hos 11.4 Now he sets his Beauty Riches and Glory before them thereby to draw and allure them anon he drops a little Myrrhe upon the handle of the Lock he gives them some little taste and feeling of his Grace and Love thereby to draw and allure them Now he sweetly insinuates his Love to them he tells them how much his heart is upon them what great things he has done and suffered for them and how that he has no design upon them but to make them happy for ever anon he lets them see how infinitely happy a Marriage-Union and Communion with him would make them he lets in some small glimpses of Heaven and Glory upon them he opens the Treasures of his Covenant and Kingdome to them And all this to draw and allure them to himself and over and above all this he ever and anon comes and as it were takes the Soul aside and by the still voyce of his Spirit makes love to him Come poor Soul says he look upon thy bleeding dying Saviour come see what I have done and see what I have prepared for thee see what Treasures of Life and Love of Grace and Glory there are in me look here is my Love taste and see if it be not better than Wine here is my Bosome make thy Bed in it and see if it be not a warm Bosome Come Soul though thou hast no Love for me yet I have Love for thee and would fain have thee happy for ever why therefore should'st thou stand at such a distance from me Thus he sweetly woos and sollicits them for their Love and acceptance of him Now Soul does he thus woo thee And wilt thou refuse him If so know that the time of Love will not alwayes last yea and the time will come when though thou callest and cryest yet he will not hear let me therefore say to thee as Paul to his Corinthians Receive not the Grace of God in vain for behold now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation 3. Such is the heart of Christ and so set upon an Espousal with Sinners that he not only thus woos them but also waits long upon them often renews the offers of his Love to them and puts up many horrid affronts and provocations at their hands if at last he may prevail with them Suppose a Man should not only make Love to a Person but he should also wait long upon her in the tenders of his Love and that though he met with many affronts and unkindnesses from her this you would say would argue his heart to be much set upon her and is it not thus with Christ towards poor Sinners O how long does he wait upon them how often does he renew the offers of his Love to them And what affronts indignities and unkindnesses does he bear with at their hands Behold I stand at the door and knock sayes he Rev. 3.20 standing is a waiting posture Christ does not give a call or a knock at the door of the Sinners heart and away no he stands knocking he gives call after call and knock after knock being ever ready to
the travel of his soul â—nd be sarisfied Isa 53.11 'T is a great grief and trouble to Christ that which wounds his very soul when having wooed poor Sinners and time after time made Love to them they notwithstanding are Shy of him and will not close with them in a Marriage-Covenant Hence he complains as he doe Jo. 5.41 You will not come to me that you might have life and Mat. 23.37 O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thee and thou wouldst not He speaks complainingly as one grieved at heart at their neglects of him yea this was that which made him Weep as he did over Jerusalem â—uks 19.41 42. Behold the joy of the whole Earth weeping And why Because of their refusals of him and his Grace and the woful Destructions that for these refusals were coming upon them Indeed this is what reflects great Dishonour upon his name poures great contempt upon his Grace and is directly contrary to the whole design of his undertakings as mediator and so cannot but be grievous to him So on the contrary when souls come freely in and give up themselves in a Marriage-Relation to him this glads and rejoyces his heart Oh how should this draw souls to him Sinner why may not this day be made the day of the gladness of Christ's heart by being a day of Espousals between him and thee He has seen many a day of grief of heart and trouble of heart because of thy standing out against him and refusing the offers of his Love Oh now let him see one day of joy of heart and gladness of heart by thy closing up with him in a Marriage-Covenant 3. As Christ delights and rejoyces when souls are Espoused to him so being Espoused to him he delights and rejoyces in this Espousal for ever Men Marry such or such and they rejoyce therein at present but their joy does not last 'T is otherwise with Christ he did rejoyce in the thoughts of it from all Eternity he does rejoyce in the being and accomplishment of it here in time and he will rejoyce in the consummation of it in Heaven for ever the truth is his joy is not compleat till the Marriage be compleat nor will his joy ever end till that end which will never be as in its place may be shewn Thus you see a little what Christ's lieart is and how much set upon this Business as well as what manner of Husband he is and what great things he does for all his Espouses and now after all what do you say Art thou for Christ or no Shall the nuptiall go on between him and your souls or shall it not Soul what answer must I give my Lord and Master that sent me to thee 'T is but a little while and he will call both thee and me to an account concerning these things and I must say Lord I woo'd that soul for thee I besought him to be Espoused unto thee and so far as I was able I displayed thy Beauty thy Riches thy Glory before him I opened thine heart to him shewed him thy Love and thy willingness to be Espoused to him hoping that the cords of thy Love would draw him and with my whole strength entreated him to give up himself in a Marriage Covenant to thee Well and what was the Issue Lord thou knowest But soul what answer must I return Must I be put to say Lord I laboured in vain and spent my strength in vain for he made light of all and would have none either of thee or thy Love O put me not to make this Dismal answer rather let me have cause to say Behold I and the Children which God hath given me Behold this soul and that soul and many souls were won over to thee Amen CHAP. X. Which Directs Souls and shews them the way how to Attain unto this sweet and Blessed Espousal with Jesus Christ AN Espousal with Christ what more sweet what more desirable And who that understands himself would not covet it before any thing this World affords no Husband like Christ and no happiness like to an Espousal to him but the question is how we may attain hereunto Truly soul the work is great and 't is the Divine Spirit alone that does and can tie the Marriage-Knot between Christ and thee but he works in this as well as in other cases in and by the use of means and there are several things highly incumbent upon thee and which must be attended by thee as ever thou wouldst attain to an acquaintance with this Blessed Espousal 1. Would'st thou be Espoused to Christ Then labour to be deeply Sensible of thine utter estrangement from him by nature as also of thy woful misery by reason of that estrangement A deep sense of our Estrangement from Christ and of our misery by reason of that estrangement is one good step towards a conjugal-Union and relation to him and without the one we are never like to attain unto the other Labour therefore for this 1. Labour to be deeply sensible of your estrangment from Christ by nature Naturally we are all strangers to Christ strangers to all conjugal-Union Communion with him We know not what any such thing means As 't was with the Ephesians so 't is with us all by nature they were and we are without Christ in the World Eph. 2.12 And not onely without him but also far from him as it followes 13. I may truly say to every natural man and woman in this as Peter did to Simon in another case Acts. 8. â—1 Thou hast neither part nor Lot in this matter Thou knowest not what Union and Communion which this sweet Lord means Yea not onely are we by nature estranged from Christ but moreover we are at Enmity with him and fill'd with hatred and opposition against him we as those mentioned Lu. 19.14 Do hate him and would not have him to reign over us Naturally we are at Enmity with Christ and with every thing that is his with his Person with his Presence with his Spirit with his Kingdome with his Lawes and Ordinances with his Graces with his Righteousness and the like His person is too holy for us his presence too pure his Spirit too convincing his Kingdom to Spiritual his Laws and Ordinances too strict his Graces too bright his Righteousness to opposite to self and so we hate all and are at Enmity with all Yea we are at Enmity with the very way of Life and Salvation by him Touching the Gospel they are Enemies sayes the Apostle which is spoken of the Jews but true of all by nature Rom. 11.28 We would live but not by Christ We would be Saved but not by Christ Thus naturally we are all estranged from him and thus high does our estrangment rise which we must be deeply sensible of if ever we get Union and Communion in a conjugal way with him Therefore work this a little upon your thoughts till you find your heart
under the Law the immediate cause of mens perishing was sin in general But under the Gospel the onely immediate cause of mens perishing is the rejection of Christ and his Grace through unbelief So much Christ himself tells us in that known place Joh. 3.18 He that believeth on the Son is not condemned Meritum damnationis juxta Evangelium non est peccatum sed preseverantia finalis in peccato infidelitatis Twis vind gra but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed on the name of the onely begotten Son of God He that believeth on Christ is not condemned And why so Is it because he has no sins to condemn him No but because believing on Christ all his sins are done away But he that believeth not on him is condemn'd already And why Is it because he is a sinner in general or because his sins are many and great sins No but because he hath not believed on the name of the onely begotten Son of God The sum of all is this The immediate cause of mens condemnation is not this sin or that sin but their refusing of Christ by unbelief Hence you have it so frequently up and down the Gospel He that believeth shall be saved He that believeth not shall be damned and the like Well then if our vefusing of Christ be the rejecting of the onely remedy of sinful Souls if it be what bindes all a mans sins fast upon him and if none of all a mans other sins though many and great should or could ever damn him were not this sin of refusing Christ added to them then certainly this is that sin which does most directly and immediatly murder the Soul O how great a sin then does this speak it to be Murder is a great sin an iniquity to be punished by the judge nor do we look upon a murderee fit to live But no murder like to Soul-murder nor should we suffer this Soul-murderer to live one moment 4. Consider that the neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin which argues you to be really in Love with your sins which truly and indeed chooses Death rather then Life loves Darkness more then Light and which leaves you without the least colour of excuse or room of appeal for ever And O what a black and horrid sin must this then be A little of each 1. This sin of neglecting and refusing Christ is what really argues you to be in Love with your sins and to have slight thoughts of them For men to act sin is bad but to have slight thoughts of sin and to be in Love with it is much worse sin being against an infinite good even infinitly contrary to the blessed God has in a sort an infinite evil in it and to be in love with that which has an infinite evil in it O how dreadful a thing is this Yet this your refusal of Christ carries in it For pray mark had you not slight thoughts of sin you would not refuse the pardon of sin when offer'd you but would account it worthy of all acceptation and were you not in Love with your sins yea greatly in Love with them you would not choose and desire to continue in your sins much less would you refuse and reject so great a good as Christ is for the sake of your sins Should a condemn'd Malefactor refuse the Kings free pardon would not this argue him to have slight thoughts of Death yea to be in Love with it and to prefer it before life As clearly does your refusing of Christ argue you to have slight thoughts of sin and to be in Love with it O were you not in Love with your sins you would be glad of a discharge and deliverance from them and would withall readiness and joyfulness embrace it when freely offer'd to you as in Christ it is 2. This sin of refusing Christ is what truly and indeed speaks you to love darkness more then light and to chose death rather then life 'T is what prefers sin and death before Christ and life and Grace O what a black sin then must it be This Christ himself asserts concerning it and that as an high aggravation of it and what makes it doubly damning Joh. 3.19 This is the condemnation that light is come into the World and men love darkness rather then light Christ and the good things of Christ are here call'd light on the other hand sin and death sin and the miseries that attend it are call'd darkness Now sayes Christ men by unbelief and refusing of me do declare that they love this darkness before this Light Men by refusing of me do in effect love choose prefer sin and death and darkness before me and my Grace me and that eternal life which I would give them O what a sin is this Christ may truly say to Sinners as Moses to them of old Deut. 30.19 I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that I have set before you Life and Death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that ye may live Now for them to choose death and reject life to choose the curse and reject the blessing This is a dreadful sin indeed and the more dreadful On the one hand because the light is so lovely and amiable and on the other hand the darkness is so odious terrible as also because the obligations which lie upon us to love choose and prefer the light before darkness are so weighty and forcible For Christ earnestly desires it he graciously counsells it he strictly commands it and no less then a whole eternity of Glorious and unspeakable happiness depends upon it O think of these things 3. This sin of refusing Christ is a sin which leaves you without the least colour of excuse or room of appeal for ever which must argue it to be a great sin indeed First it leaves you without the least colour of excuse without the least coulour of excuse for sin and without the least colour of excuse why you should not die for sin This Christ himself is express in Joh. 15.22 If I had not come and spoken to them they had not had sin but now they have no Cloak for their sin If I had not come and spoken to them viz. in the Gospel revealing my Father's will and offering my self and my Grace to them They had not had sin i. e. Not so great sin But now they have no Cloak no excuse for their sin Now they have no pretence to make nothing wherewith to colour or extenuate their sin The neglect and refusal of Christ leaves men altogether inexcusable and it will do so to be sure in the last day O when God in the day of his righteous judgment shall demand of men that have liv'd under the Gospel why they sin'd and having sin'd why they are found in their sins and being found in their sins why they should not die for ever what will they have to say by way
and peculiar in his Love and respects as great Persons use to be He will know his distance and he will make Sinners know theirs But Soul deal with this as from the devil and unbelief reject it as a reproach thrown upon Christ and dwell much in the contemplation of his infinite willingness to receive and save the worst of Sinners that come to him Reason it a little with thy self Why did he become incarnate Why did he bleed and die Why does he woo and wait and offer and call and strive with poor Sinners to win them to himself Does it not all argue a willingness and readiness in him to give forth both himself and his fulness to them 4. The Fourth Gospel-principle or encouragement of Faith which thou shouldest bear up thy soul upon and dwell much in the contemplation of is this That the onely spring and principle of all that ever Christ does for poor Sinners from first to last is his own Soverain Grace and Love 'T was his Love that brought him down from Heaven and that led him out to Bleed and die for them Hence Eph. 5.25 he is said to Love his Church and give himself for it 'T is his Love his free Love that first draws them to himself and allures them into Covenant with him I have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee Jer. 31.3 'T is his Love that receives them that pardons them that bestows life and Salvation upon them Hence all is said to be of Grace even the whole of our Salvation Eph. 2.8 Hence he is represented to us as sitting upon a Throne of Grace and there 't is that he invites us to come to him and from thence give out all to us Heb. 4.16 and therefore to that Throne we though Sinners may come boldly He is upon a Throne and therefore we may assure our selves that he will do great things for Sinners coming to him he will act like a King pardon like a King save like a King do all with Kingly greatness and magnificence And 't is a Throne of Grace a Throne that reigns Grace a Throne whereon Grace sits in imperial Majesty and decrees all for poor Sinners coming to it and so does all freely all in a way of Soverain Grace and Love Hence that Language I will have mercy because I will have mercy I will pardon because I will pardon and I will save because I will save Now what an encouragement is this to Faith and how if rightly weighed and consider'd would it dash all the pleas of unbelief to pieces and sweetly draw the Soul on to a close with Christ in a Marriage-Covenant For pray consider what is the nature of Soverain Grace and Love The nature of it is to act from it self to itself without any consideration of any thing in us without respecting either the worthiness or the unworthiness of the creature at all The nature of it is such that 't is neither constrain'd to nor restrain'd from doing good to souls by any thing either of good or evil in them but all runs freely And therefore no matter what I am though never so vile and wretched in my self while I have to do with such love and such love is the spring of all Christ's dealings with me and Carriages towards me 5. The Fifth Gospel-principle or encouragement of Faith which thou shouldest bear up thy self upon and dwell much in the contemptation of is this That the great design of Christ in all his undertakings for and dispensation towards Sinners is the illustrating and enthroning of his own Grace and the more vile sinful and forlorn a wretch thou art the more will his Grace be enthroned and illustrated in thine acceptance with him Christ in his dealings with and for Sinners does not onely act from a principle of Soverain Grace but in all he carrie on a design to enthrone that Grace of his and to make it Glorious for ever yea and he acts and will act sutably to such a design 'T is not what such and such Sinners do or do not deserve says Christ that I am to mind but what my Grace can do for them and what will make most for the Glory of that Grace what will set the brightest Crown upon its Head This is evident Eph. 1.6.12.14 Which was open'd before upon another occasion Hence those whom he saves he saves in such a way as may most lift up his own Grace his design therein being that Grace might reigh as you have it Rom. 5.21 Hence you read of his justifying the ungodly Rom. 4.5 He will have his Grace triumph over every Soul whom he saves Now what an encouragement is this to Faith Christ not onely sits upon a Throne of Grace but also his design in dealing with Sinners is to set his Grace upon the Throne Sinner the more vile and sinful thou art the more sutable it is to Christ's design to save thee for the more vile and sinful thou art the greater name and Glory will his Grace get in thine acceptation and Salvation by him The more vile and sinful thou art the greater will be the declaration of Grace on Christ's part in thine acceptance and Salvation O when Christ shall pardon a soul so guilty receive a soul so sinful reconcile a soul that is such an enemy as thou art how will this declare the Glorious riches of his Grace in the view both of men Angels This will shew forth the exceeding riches of his Grace as the the Expression is Eph. 2.7 And the morevile and sinful thou art the greater will be the admiration of Grace for ever on thy patt Where much is forgiven there will be the return of much Love much praise Luk. 7.47 O who am I sayes the soul when once received to mercy though more then ordinary vile and sinful who am I that I should find Grace in Christ's sight What such a rebell and yet pardon'd Such an enemy and yet reconcil'd Such a Black devil and yet washt and made white in the Blood of the Lamb Such a Fiend of Hell and yet made a Favourite of Heaven Such a filthy deformed wretch and yet taken into the pure and Lovely Bosome of sweet Jesus O Grace Grace How rich and free is Grace And O what praise and Hallelujahs will there be tuned upon the Tongues and spirits of such to God and the Lamb for ever When therefore thou wouldst go to Christ and discouragements arise to keep thee back from him thou shouldst dwell in the thoughts of and bear up thy soul upon this consideration reasoning thus with thy self True I am a vile wretch the chief of Sinners one on all accounts worthy to be abhor'd and cast off by Christ But what then Christ acts towards Sinners purely from a principle of Grace and Love he regards neither worthiness nor unworthiness whether a great sinner or a little sinner 't is all one to him as to his
Faith passes to the God-head Neque ad Christum Deum unquam perveniet qui heminem negligit And as a great Divine speaks he that comes not to Christ as man shall never come to him as God The truth is Faith cannot deal with God immediately but as God cloath'd with our nature 4. View and apprehend him in his office of Mediatorship The Gospel reveals and propounds Christ to our Faith in his Office it propounds and reveals him as Christ as the true Messiah and Saviour of the World as one seal'd sent and anointed by the Father for the redemption of lost Souls and thus also should Faith eye and apprehend him So also did Peter's Faith apprehend him Thou art Christ sayes he the Son of the living God Mat. 16.16 Hence we read of believing that Jesus is the Christ 1 John 5.1 Hence also Christ tells the Jews If ye believe not that I am he ye shall die in your sins John 8.24 If ye believe not that I am he i. e. that I am the Messiah the Christ the Saviour that was promised O! Faith is short of that notion it should have of Christ unless it thus eyes him in his Office 5. View and apprehend him in his infinite ability and sufficiency for the discharge of his Office The Gospel reveals and propounds him to our Faith as one able to save to the very uttermost and accordingly should our Faith eye and apprehend him Heb. 7.25 It reveals him indeed both as an onely and alsufficient Saviour as an onely Saviour Look unto me and be saved all ye ends of the earth for I am God and there is none besides me Isa 45.22 Neither is there Salvation in any other nor is there any other Name given under Heaven wherby we may be saved but his only Acts 4.12 And as an alsufficient Saviour My Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed sayes he and he that eateth me even he shall live by me John 6.55 57. It reveals him in the infinite vertue of his Blood the inexhaustible fulness of his Grace the compleatness of his Obedience the excellency of his Righteousness the perfection of his Satisfaction and the like and thus should our Faith eye and apprehend him O labour for such a notion and apprehension of Christ as this is as ever you would believe aright and be indeed espoused to Christ labour for a found clear distinct knowledge of him as the great object of Faith Pray much for a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him that was the Apostles prayer for the Ephesians in this case Ephes 1.7 and let it be yours for your selves III. Would you pitch your Faith aright upon Christ and be indeed espoused to him Then be sure to make a right choice or election of him being thus known and apprehended To have a right notion and apprehension of Christ is good and necessary in order to union with him by believing but 't is not enough no Christ being known and apprehended must also be chosen and embraced by us and that as he is revealed and offered in the Gospel To know and apprehend Christ is an act of the Mind or Understanding but to chuse and embrace Christ is an act of the Will and Affections and though Faith has its rise and inchoation in the mind yet its complement and perfection it has in the Will and Affections these liking chusing and embracing of him and that in a way sutable to what the mind sees and apprehends concerning him and this must be added to the former or there is no right believing and so no conjugal union and communion with Christ Observemus fidei sedem non in cerebro esse sed in corde quoniam cordis nomen pro serio et sincero affectu fere capitur dice firmam esse efficacem fiduciam non nudam tantum notionem Calv. Hence that of the Apostle With the heart Man believeth unto Righteousness Rom. 10.10 True believing then is with the Heart now by the Heart here as also generally elsewhere in Scripture is meant the Will and Assections accordingly to believe with the Heart is for the Will and Affections to chuse and embrace Christ as he is revealed and offered in the Gospel this is called a receiving of Christ John 1.12 We receive Christ into our Wills when we chuse him and adhere to him for Life and Salvation and we receive him into our affections when we love him desire him and delight in him and this is believing To believe sayes Calvin is nothing else but to chuse and embrace Christ with a sincere affection of mind as he is reveal'd and offer'd in the Gospel And this indeed is the great vital act of Faith and that whereby our Conjugal-Union and Communion with Christ is more especially brought about This is that which makes Christ ours and puts us into the possession of him Mary sayes Christ has chosen the better part which shall never be taken from her Luke 10.42 She had chosen Christ and her choice of him had made him her own and so her own as that she could never lose him never be deprived of him Indeed a right choice of Christ makes him ours it unites us to him and interests us in him for ever A little further to help you in this business know that a right choice of Christ is accomplish't by these three steps 1. The Soul apprehending Christ as before likes him and approves of him as the best and most sutable Saviour the most lovely and desirable object in Heaven or Earth The Soul sayes of Christ as they did of the Land of Canaan Numb 14.7 The Land say they is an exceeding good Land So this Christ sayes the Soul is an exceeding good Christ this Saviour is an exceeding good Saviour there 's none like him there 's no beauty like his Beauty no blood like his Blood no fulness like his Fulness no love like his Love 2. The Soul desires him and longs after him and that with a strong ardent and vigorous affection This is call'd hungring and thirsting after Christ Matth. 5.6 The Soul seeing Christ and approving of him longingly cries out O a Christ a Christ O that this good Christ were mine 3. The Soul is by Grace sweetly and powerfully determined upon Christ so as actually to make a solemn and deliberate choice of him singling him out from all other things in Heaven and Earth as the best and most desirable good and most worthy of his dearest and most intimate embraces The Soul now pitches his choice upon Christ to be his Head and Husband his Lord and Saviour his rest his treasure his happiness his all for ever Now by these steps see that you come up to make a right choice of Christ be sure that you like him and approve of him as the best and most desirable object in Heaven or Earth Truly if you view him aright you can't but like him and
perfectly what manner of one thou wouldst be and how thou wouldst carry it towards him and yet all could not hinder him from shewing this favour to thee Why then shouldst thou think it will cause him to break with thee now The Soul may be apt to say Did Christ think I would be such a Wretch that I would so grieve him so offend him that I would carry it so unworthily towards him under all his love as I do Yea Soul Christ thought it yea he knew it perfectly before-hand in Deut. 31.21 't is said That God knew what Israel would do before-hand So Christ knew before-hand how thou wouldst fleight his Love grieve his Spirit violate his Laws he knew how thou wouldst offend and affront him by a proud vain wanton behaviour before him He knew how thou wouldst backflide and go a whoring from him and had he not seen and known that he had love enough and bowels enough to cover and pass by all he would never have made love to thee Hence when he betroths he is said to do it in judgment Hos 2.19 Christ knew what he did and what an one he married when he married thee to himself And as all could not hinder his love at first so neither shall it take off his love from thee now 3. Consider that thou mayest have many failings and miscarriages be guilty of many breakings with Christ and departures from him and yet the Marriage-Covenant between him and thee not be broken A Woman may be guilty of many failings and miscarriages many defects and misdemeanors and yet all not break the Marriage-Covenant between her Husband and her And so here O how sweet is that Scripture Psal 89.30 31 32 33 34. If his Children forsake my Law and walk not in my Judgments if they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their iniqui-quities with a rod and their transgressions with stripes And what sollows Nevertheless sayes he my loving kindness will I not utterly take from them nor suffer my faithfulness to fail my Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips Pray mark Christ's People may sin and sin greatly and he may sharply chastise them for their sins yea he may seem to take away his loving kindness from them and may really for a time suspend the influences and manifestations thereof but his Covenant-love and faithfulness to them that remains firm and stedfast to them for ever notwithstanding all So again Jer. 3.1 14. Though thou hast played the Harlot with many lovers yet return again to me saith the Lord. Turn O back-sliding Children for I am married unto you Mark though they had backsliden though they had played the Harlot though they had played the Harlot with many lovers yet Christ owns his Covenant-Relation to them and with them yea and he sends as it were his Covenant after them and by that fetches them home to himself O! whatever thy miscarriages are whatever thy breakings with Christ and departures from him have been yet being once married to him the Marriage-Union and Relation between him and thee remains firm and stedfast for ever notwithstanding all O but sayes the Soul my heart is still bent to backsliding from Christ and I am afraid I shall at last totally and finally depart from him and then farewel all I answer That Christ stands engaged to keep thee from true notwithstanding any thing in and of thy self if left by Christ thou wouldst be apt totally and finally to depart from him but Christ himself stands engaged to keep thee to him 'T is the very tenure of his Covenant with thee Jer. 32.40 I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good and I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall never depart from me O Sirs not only is Christ's heart towards his People but he is engaged by Covenant to keep their hearts close to him and faithful with him at least so far as that they shall not totally depart from him and so their faithfulness to him does depend upon his faithfulness to them I 'le close this consideration with that known and great Scripture Rom. 8. latter end Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth and lest all these things should not reach the case of every Soul he adds nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. III. Consider that 't is not long e're the Lord Jesus thy dear Husband will come and consummate the Marriage between him and thy Soul And O how sweet will this be The Match here is but as it were begun between Christ and thee but Christ will shortly come and consummate it Behold the Bridegroom cometh Mat. 25.6 And again they that were ready went into the Marriage ver 10. and the Marriage of the Lamb is come Rev. 19.7 There is a time then when Christ will come to consummate the Marriage between him and Souls When he comes as to the World he comes as a Judge to condemn them to avenge the quarrel of his Gospel the quarrel of his Covenant the quarrel of his Blood all which they have rejected he comes to pass Sentence upon them for resisting his Spirit for contemning his Grace for breaking his Laws for neglecting his Salvation And O how dark will the day of his coming be to them But now to his own Spouses when he comes he comes as a Bridegroom And O how sweet will this coming of his be to them 1. Then he will turn all your Water into Wine Joh. 2. beg we read That Christ being at a Marriage he there turned Water into Wine And truly Soul when he shall come to consummate the Marriage between him and thee he will turn all thy Waters of Affliction into the Wine of sweet Consolation to thee He will turn thy Night into Day thy Darkness into Light thy Sorrows into Joys thy Mourning into Dancing thy Troubles into Rest thy Conflicts into Triumphs thy Labours into Reward thy mournful Lamentations into joyful Halelujahs Then will he fulfil that Scripture to thee Rev. 21.4 God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more Death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain Poor Soul now thine eyes are full of tears with holy David Thou goest weeping and mourning it may be all the day long but then all tears shall be wiped off thine eyes Now thou art in deaths often as the holy Apostle was but then there shall be no more death Now