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
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
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
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
order to life and happiness by him John 6.53 54 55. What doth eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood signifie but an Union with his Humanity And therefore in vers 56. he addeth He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him which is an expression of Union and without this we have we can have no Life no Grace from him In a word as the humanity hath nothing to give or communicate to us no Life no Grace no Spiritual Blessing without the Divinity so the Divinity is incommunicable to us without the Humanity and therefore were our Union with the one only without the other it must needs he ineffectual I will close this with the saying of an eminent Divine Etsi tota salus vita a Deitatis plenitudine pendet quae est in Christo interim tamen nobis non communicatur nisi in carne per carnem Christi Deitas enim est ceu fons unde fluunt omnia bona vita salus sed caro atque humanitas est ceu canalis per quem ad nos derivantur omnia haec bona omnesque gratiae nisi quis igitur canalem hunc apprehendat eique uniatur aquarum certè quae è fonte profluunt particeps fieri non potest Zanch. in Thes de connubio Spirituali Although all Life all Salvation floweth from the fulness of the Deity that is in Christ yet notwithstanding it is not communicated to us but in the flesh and by the flesh of Christ For the Deity is as the Fountain whence all good things flow Life and Salvation but the flesh or humanity is as the Channel by which all these good things and all Gifts and Graees are derived unto us therefore unless a man apprehendeth this Channel and be united to it he cannot possibly be made a partaker of these Waters which do flow from this Fountain 2. On the other hand the whole Person of the Believer is united to Christ not his Soul onely without his Body nor yet his Body onely without his Soul but his whole Person consisting of both Soul and Body in conjunction As Christ is the Saviour so he is the Head of the whole Person of every Believer for he saves none but those whom he is a Head unto And as Christ is the Head of so he must have union with the whole Person of every Believer for his being an Head implies union and that union must extend as far as his Headship doth even to the whole Person In short the Believers Soul is united to Christ therefore saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.17 He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit and the Believers Body is united to Christ and therefore the Bodies of Believers are said to be Members of Christ 1 Cor. 6.15 thus this union is a full union And as it is a full so it is a very near union Next to those two great Unions the essential Union the Union of the three Persons in One and the same Divine Essence and the Personal Union the Union of the two Natures Divine and Humane in the Person of Christ this is the nearest Union Hence it is expressed sometimes by their being in each other John 14.20 Ye shall know that I am in the Father and ye in me and I in you sometimes by their dwelling in each other John 6.56 He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him And what can be nearer than to be and dwell in each other It is a nearer Union than that between the Husband and the Wife for that Union may be broken and is at last but this never is never can be broken as in its place will be shewn III. This Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers carries in it full and lasting communion In Marriage-relations there is a full and free communion between the Parties both in what they are and what they have The Husband admits the sife into a participation in all he is and hath on the other hand he communicates with her in all she is and hath and indeed union is in order to communion So here in the Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers there is a full and free communion between them in all they are and have On the one hand Christ communicates himself unto the Believer he admits him into a fellowship and participation with him in all his riches and fulness hence is that John 1.16 of his fullness have all we received and that Grace for Grace vers 14. He is said to be full of Grace And what Grace is that Why all Grace Personal Grace Purchased Grace Grace of Priviledge and Grace of Influence And here it is said that of his fulness have all we received not some onely but all great and small have received and that not in a low poor scanty measure onely Gratiam super gratiam h. e. accumulat issimam copiosissimam omnem gratiam nempe justitiam remissionem peccatorum sanctitatem renovationem spiritus c. Glas Gram. Sacr. but in great abundance therefore it 's added and Grace for Grace or Grace upon Grace heaps of Grace Grace in a plentiful manner all Grace needful for the Soul Righteousness Remission of Sins Sanctification Renovation of the Spirit and the like Look what-ever Christ is or hath which Believers are capable of it is all theirs and they all hold communion with him therein His beauty is theirs and how black and deformed soever they are in themselves yet they are fair and comely in him Nigra per naturam formosa per gratiam Aug. Hence saith the Spouse I am black but comely Cant. 1.5 that is black in my self but comely in Christ black by Nature but comely by the Redeemers Grace comely through the comeliness which he puts upon me Ezek. 16.14 His Righteousness is theirs and how guilty and unrighteous soever they are in themselves yet in him they are Righteous and do stand perfectly righteous in the sight of God Hence his Name is said to be The Lord our Righteousness Jer. 23.6 and they are said to be made the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 His Priviledges and Dignities are theirs and how vile and base soever they are in themselves yet in him they are highly dignified and advanced Is he a Son so are they through him To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God to as many as believed in his Name John 1.12 Is he an Heir an Heir of God so are they they are Heirs yea coheirs with him of God Rom. 8.17 Is he beloved by the Father and that with a choice and singular love so are they they are beloved in him Ephes 1.6 yea they are beloved with the same love wherewith he is beloved by the Father John 17.23 Is he a King so are they he hath made them and doth make them all Kings and they do
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
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
became of no Beputation or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Se câ—acuavit omm glâ—rria i.e. Christas gloriam illam majestatem in qua câ—at apud patram ita ab diderit in forma servi ut eaâ—s se penitus evaâ—â—ssâ— visissit Zanch. in Loc. Fallus quod non crat matens quodeâ—at Her as the Greek is he emptied himself to wit of his glory his glory was veiled and clouded hereby the glory of his God-head was Eclipsed 't is true indeed his Godhead was not hereby lost or laid aside no he was as much and as truly God after his Incarnation as he was before he did not cease to be God by becoming Man but as one of the Ancients expresses it he was made that which he was not and yet remained that which he was he was made Man yet so as that he still remained to be God but though his God-head was not lost or laid aside hereby Carnis humilitas sait instar veli quo Divina majestas tegebatur Calo. yet hereby was the glory of it veiled and lost for a time and he was not content to have it so oh how great a condescention was this oh for him that was God God equal with the Father to become Man to cover himself with the course Veil of our Flesh and be content for so long a time to lose the glory of his Deity which was infinitely dear to him and all this to make way for an Espousal between himself and poor Sinners what self-abasement was this and how should it encourage Souls to look after an Espousal to him 2. He not only became Incarnate but also freely bled and dyed in order hereunto which is a further discovery of his heart herein being sayes the Apostle found in fashion as a Man he humbled himself and became obedient unto the death even the death of the Cross i. e. to the most formidable Death a Death of pain a Death of shame an accursed Death Pâ—il 2.8 Hence also 't is said that he gave himself an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for us Eph. 5. 2. Yea not only did he bleed and suffer and dye but he did all freely and with much readiness and enlargedness of Soul hence he is said to have powred out his Soul unto Death Isa 53.12 Voluntariè scipsum in mortem tradidit Musc in Loc. He seemed in an holy manner prodigal of his Life in the case he thought neither Blood nor Life nor any thing too much for them Oh! how much does this argue his heart to be upon the business It spake Jacob's heart to be much set upon Rachel to have her to Wife that he could be content to undergo so much hard Service for her as he did even seven years Service Jacob 't is said served seven years for Rachel yea and they seemed unto him but a few days for the Love he had to her Gen. 29.20 So surely it argues Christs heart to be much set upon an Espousal with Sinners that he was content not only to serve but even bleed and dye for them in order hereunto Oh Sirs behold and wonder Christ comes from Heaven quits his Throne leaves the bosome of his Father in which he had with insinite delight lain from Eternity behold and wonder the Lord of Life dyes the God of Blessing was made a Curse The infinitely beloved Son treads the Wine-press of the Father's wrath Heaven descends into Hell glory veils and Eclipses it self under shame and ignominy the infinitely holy one is made sin and all this to redeem and redeeming Espouse poor Sinners to himself and is not his heart upon the business think you And has he not Love for them Oh be not saithless but believing 2. Such is the heart of Christ and so set upon an Espousal with Sinners that he condescends sweetly to woo them and solicit them for their Love and acceptance of him Should you see a Man with all carnestness and importunity wooing a Virgin and making Love to her following her from day to day with renewed offers and sollicitations you would conclude his heart was much set upon an Espousal with her And is it not thus with the Lord Jesus towards poor Sinners Does he not woo them and make Love to them and that with all earnestness and pressing importunity following them with renewed offers and sollicitations from day to day Now he meets them in this Ordinance and there he woos them and makes Love to them anon he meets them in that Ordinance and there woos them and makes Love to them now he sends his Ministers and by them woos them and makes Love to them anon he sends his Spirit and by him woos them and makes Love to them thus he is every way and upon all occasions wooing them and in his wooing of them How earnestly does he call and invite them to himself 't is not a cold offer or a slight motion onely that he makes to them but he moves and offers calls and invites with all earnestness and importunity Hoe every one that thirsteth come ye to the Waters come ye yea come Isa 55 1. and again the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that is a thirst come Rev. 22.17 How vigorously does he plead and expostulate the business with them Christ does not onely call and invite but he also pleades and expostulates with sinners in the case and that in the most winning way and with the most weighty arguments that possibly may be Hâ—eâ— every one that thirsteth come unto the waters wherefore do you spend your Money for that which is not bread And your labour for that which satissieth not incline your ear and come unto me hear and your souls shall live and I will make with you an everlasting Covenant even the sure mercies of David Isa 55.2 3. And again turn ye turn ye whâ— will ye dâ—â— O house of â—srael Ezek. 33.11 I have no pleasure in your damnation but had rather that you would come unto me and live why will you dye is not lise better then death is not Heaven better then Hell is not my love better then a Lust are not the Pleasures of any Presence and at my right hand which are for evermore better then the pleasures of sin which are but for a seasor a short season why will you dye is there â—oâ—b 〈◊〉 in Gilâ—ed is there no Physsitian there am not I able to save you to the uttermost and are not my Arms wide open to receive you have not I dyed for that very end that you might live look here 's my Blood here are my Wounds behold me in the Garden and see me bleeding there for you behold me upon the Cross and see me bleeding yea bleeding to death there for you and then see if you can find in your hearts to refuse me any longer In short would you not lose all your cost and all your labour would you enjoy good the best good the most sat is
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
refuse long and stand it out long against the offers of Christ and his grace e're they close with him who yet are received embraced by him Be not therefore discouraged poor soul because of thy former neglects and refusals of Christ but throw thy self into the Arms of his love which thou wilt certainly find wide open to receive and Embrace thee 5. Is it any revolting or Back-sliâ—ing of thine from him Possibly thou hast souretimes been on thy way towards Christ thou hast had some workings some good Resolutions and affections within thee for him I and thou hast made some profession of him thou hast sometimes been even upon the turning point the point of closeing with Christ and the Match has been near made up between him and thee And yet after all this thou hast revolted and Back-sliden from him Playing the Harlot with many lovers which makes thee fear that he will now reject thee shouldest thou goe to him And the truth is this also is very sad For hereby Christ has been eminently Dishonoured and thy Soul has been eminently endangered But yet be not discouraged for this shall not stand between Christ and thee if yet thou art but willing to be Espoused to him Christ offers himself and his grace to such as these he promises to heal Back-slidings Jer. 3.1 Though thou hast played the Harlot with many lovers yet return unto me saith the Lord and â— 12. Return thou Backsliding Israel and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you For I am merciful so Hos 2.19 I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me Thee who Why as revolting and Backsliding a People as ever were in the World so you will find in the beginning of the Chap. There is hope then you see for revolters and Backsliders therefore be not discouraged but go to him and he will not cast thee out Well soul Here 's encouragement enough for thee notwithstanding all thy Vileness Sinfulness and unworthiness and to add to thy encouragment yet know Christ has received multitudes that were every way as vile sinful and unworthy as thou art What dost thou think of Manasseth who was a Sorcerer and an Idolater What dost thou think of Paul who was a Persecuter and a Blasphemer What dost thou think of Mary Magdalen who had seven Devils in her What dost thou think of Rahab who was an Harlot What dost thou think of multitudes of those who Crucified Christ but afterwards believed These were all great Sinners and yet Christ received them into the Arms of his Love What dost thou think of the black List and Catalogue of Sinners among the Corinthians mentioned 1 Cor. 6.9 10. who were Drunkards Thieves Murderers Adulterers Idolaters abusers of themselves with Mankind and the like What dost thou think of them Titus 3.3 who were Foolish Disobedient Living in Envy Hateful and hâ—â—eing one another serving divers Lusts and pleasures Surely these were as vile as sinful as worthless as thou art and had as much to stand between Christ and them and yet they found grace in Christ's sight upon their looking to him Indeed there is never a Soul now in Heaven but was by Nature every way as vile sinful and unworthy of Christ as thou they lay under the same pollution they wallowed in the same Blood they were filled with the same Spirit of opposition against God and his wayes that thou dost and art yea and multitudes of them were as vile and sinful by practice also as thou they Acted out the sin and enmity of their Natures as highly against God and Christ as thou hast done and yet these Christ received else they had not been in Heaven In a word Heaven as one observes is an House full of the Miracles of Christ's free Grace There 's Idolatrous Manisseth among the true Worshippers of God There 's oppressing Zacheus among the Spirits of Just Men made perfect There 's Blasphemous Paul among the Host of Angels Lauding Praising and singing Halelujahs to God and the Lamb and there is Mary Magdalen that had seven Devils among the Saints of the most High who are filled even to overflowing with the seven Spirits of God O who then would be discouraged Yea Soul all thy vileness sinfulness and unworthiness does but as it were qualifie thee for Christ and his free Grace My sinful wants and unworthiness sayes Rutherford have qualified me for Christ and his grace Cast thy self therefore fully upon him notwithstanding all not doubting thine acceptance with him 6. Such is the heart of Christ and so set upon an Espousal with sinners as that he delights and rejoyces in nothing more hardly then in the Nuptials between him and them and oh how should this draw and allure us to him Should you see a Young Man rejoycing in the sense of an Espousal between himself and such or such an one whom he Loved you might well conclude that his heart was much upon her and is it not thus here Christ rejoyces in the sight and sense of an Espousal between himself and sinners and how much does this Argue his heart to be in the business This I will give you in three propositions 1. This is what he rejoyced and delighted himself in the thoughts of from all Eternity thus much he himself tells us Proâ— 8.30 31. Then namely from Everlasting was I by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoycing alwayes before him rejoycing in the habitable parts of the Earth and my delights were with the Sons of Men These are Christ's words and in them he tells you where he was and what he had been doing from Eternity he was with the Father and rejoyced before him but what did he rejoyce in truly next to his Father and himself his rejoycing was in the habitable parts of the Earth and his delights were with the Sons of Men He delighted himself in the thoughts of saving poor sinners and Espousing them unto himself in order thereunto Oh how much does this Argue his heart to be in the business 2. As he thus delighted and rejoyced in the thoughts of it before hand so when at any time a poor Soul is Actually Espoused to him then he rejoyces afresh and is delighted afresh Hence the day of Espousals is called the day of the gladness of his heart Cant. 3.11 the day of Espousals between Christ and a poor Sinner is a day of gladness and rejoyceing to the Father a day of gladness and rejoycing to the blessed Spirit a day of gladness and rejoycing to the Holy Angels and Spirits of just men made perfect For there is joy in Heaver at this 〈◊〉 15.7 But 't is especially a day of gladness and rejoycing to Christ the Bridegroom O to see poor Sinners come in and give up themselves to him in a Marriage-Covenant this is the joy the rest the sat is faction of his soul Hence ' its said he shall see of
with him those his Blood cleanses from all sin 1 Jo. 1.7 and in him have they redemption through his Blood even the for giveness of sin Eph. 1.7 As for others he tells them plainly they shall die in their sins Jo. 8.24 O how sad a condition is this Soul thou art guilty of multitudes of sins the least of which has evil enough in it to damn thee eternally Thou hast thousands 10 thousands of Scarlet Crimson sins sins cloathed with black and crying aggravations lying upon thee and to have all these in the full weight of the guilt and punishment of them charged upon thee by the great God for ever how miserable does this speak thy condition to be 6. Being estranged from Christ you are under a necessity of sinning and so of great'ning your own damnation daily A man out of Christ does do can do nothing but sin for he is not subject to the Law of God nor can he be Rom. 8.8 And as he is ever sinning so he is ever treasuring up wrath unto himself Ro. 2.5 O how sad a condition is this This is Dura necessitas as Austin calls it and speaks a mans condition to be very doleful To be always sinning against God and alwayes treasuring up wrath to a man 's own Soul this is next to Hell in some sort worse To give you thee Sum of all Being estranged from Christ you have nothing to satisfie Divine justice which is ready to seize upon you nothing to pacifie Divine wrath which is ready to break forth against you nothing to stand between Divin revenges and your sinful souls What shall I say you have many accusers and by them many heavy charges brought in against you and being without Christ you have no Advocate to plead your cause none to speak a good word in Heaven for you and is not that sad you are deeply in debt you owe your 10 thousand tallents to Divine justice and being without Christ you have nothing to pay but are in danger of being cast into the Prison of eternal darkness whence there is no redemption And is not that sad you are under an obligation to much Duty and being without Christ you are under an utter impossibility of performing any of it acceptably You are under a judgment of condemnation and being without Christ you have nothing that can secure you one day one hour one moment more on this side everlasting Burnings and O how sad and miserable is this Thus you see both your estrangment from Christ and also your misery in part by reason of that estrangment Now as ever you would get Union and Communion with him labour to be deeply sensible of both these 2. Would'st thou indeed be Espoused to Christ Then labour to be soundly convinced and deeply sensible of the greatness and Hainousness of the sin of refusing Christ and the offers of his Love poor Soul thou standest it out against Christ he wooes and calls and invites thee to himself but thou slightest and refusest all and this thou thinkest a small matter but let me tell thee this is a most hainous and crying sin To Swear to Murder to Steal to be Drunk to be Unclean and the like these thou look'st upon as black and horred things Indeed well thou mai'st for they are sins of a more then ordinary hainous and abominable nature But yet know that thy sin in rejecting Christ and the offers of his Love is greater and more provoking then all these This indeed is the great sin and the sin thou must in a especial manner be sensible of if ever thou art United to Christ so much Christ himself tells us in that known place Joh. 16.8 9. he sayes he speaking of the Spirit whom he promised to send shall convince the World of sin because they believe not in me unbelief then is the great sin that the Spirit convinces souls of And what 's unbelief but the neglect and refusal of Christ and the offers of his Love made to us in the Cospel He shall convince the World of sin because they believe not in me i.e. de illo magno grandi incredulitatis peccato He shall convince them of that grand sin of unbelief as a learned man expounds it as if Christ should say he shall make men see the black and hainous nature of the sin of rejecting me and my Love He shall humble them for it and set them a bleeding over it This sin of rejecting Christ some of the Shcool-men have called Maximum peccatum the greatest sin of all And indeed next to the unpardonable sin what greater This is a sin most directly and immediately against Christ and the Gospel O for a vile wretched sinner to shut the door of his soul against Christ the King of Glory and deny him entertainment to refuse and reject the free and frequent offers of him and his Love how great a sin must this be And soul to convince thee the better of it and make thee the more afraid of it I shall suggest a few considerations to thee holding forth a little of its black and horred evil 1 Consider that the neglect and refusal of Christ his Love is a sin against a special eminent command and therefore a great crying sin The greater and more eminent the command is which we transgress and sin against the greater our sin and guilt is in transgressing that command Now God does not onely command us to receive and embrace Christ and his Love but this command of his is a great signal and eminent command So St John tells us 1 Joh. 3.23 This is his commandment that we believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ whom he hath sent What is it to believe on the name of Jesus Christ but to receive and embrace Christ offering himself in the Gospel to us and to live upon him having so received and embraced him Now sayes he this is his commandment his great his special commandment his commandment in a most signal eminent manner and Christ himself asserts the same thing Joh. 6.28 29. In the 28 v. They ask him what shall we do that we may works the Work of God His answer in the 29. v. is This is the Work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent i. e. That ye receive and embrace me and live upon me by believing This is the Work of God the great work which he commands you and expects from you Believing as Calvin observes upon this place is not called the Work of God Non quia efficit deus in nobissed quid requirit Christus docet Calv. in Loc. because 't is of Gods operation as you have it else where or that which God works in us but because 't is the great thing which he commands and requires of us To reject and refuse Christ then is a sin against a signal and emenient command indeed against the great command of the Gospel and therefore
must needs be a great and crying sin more particularly 1. The neglect and refusal of Christ and his love is a sin against a clear and express command of God a command wherein the authority of God does peculiarly and eminently shine forth So much is held forth in the place mentioned before 1 Joh. 3.28 this is his commandment says he speaking of the commandment of Faith his express Commandment a Commandment wherein his authority is evidently and peculiarly seen the authority of God shines forth in all his commands but especially in this above the rest Therefore this you see has an emphasie put upon it This is his commandment Now the more clearly and eminently the authority of God shines forth in any command the greater our sin and guilt is in transgressing that command 2. The neglect and refusal of Christ and his love is a sin against a command wherein the heart of God and Christ does much lye and is therefore a great sin This is a true Rule That the more the mind or heart of the Law-Giver is in any law or command the greater is our sin and guilt in the breach and transgression of that law or command Now God's command to us to receive Christ by believing is a command wherein his own heart as well as the heart of Christ does much lye indeed there is nothing in all the World that the heart of God and Christ is more set upon or desirous of then this that Souls should embrace Christ by believing and become one with him in a Marriage-Covenant Witness the freeness of their offers the frequency of their calls the importunateness of their pleas the patientness of their waitings the affectionateness of their entreaties the friendliness of their upbraidings the patheticalness of their lamentings the sweetness of their wooings the unweariedness of their drawings and the graciousness of their dealings in reference hereunto But you have already seen how much the heart of Christ and in him the heart of the Father is in this business now to transgress such a command a command wherein the heart of God and Christ does so much lye and to run counter to that which they so much desire O what a sin must this needs be The neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin against a command which has vertually all the commands of God in it and so in the breach and transgression thereof we break and transgress all and O how great a sin then must this be to believe on Christ is comprehensive of all that God commands and requires of us this is so his Commandment as that in obeying this we obey all And in violating this we violate all and so he esteems and accounts it This is evident from Joh. 6.28 29. What shall we do say they that we may work the works of God This is the work of God sayes Christ to believe on him whom he hath sent Pray mark they speak of works in the plural Number They would know what all those works were which God requir'd Loquuti erant de operibus Christus ad unum opus eos revocat hoc est ad sidem quo significat quicquid extra fidem homines moliuntur inutile ac vanum esse solam vero fidem sufficere Calv. in Loc. and what the extent of the command was And Christ in his Answer reduces all to one and that is Faith by which he shews that as all is vain without Faith so Faith is vertually all that God requires This is the Work of God says he as if he should say here 's all in one to believe on and receive me is comprehensive of all and accordingly my beloved to reject Christ and his love is to break all at once and to violate all at once 'T is to rebel against and poure contempt upon the whole mind and will of God at once Appellat Christus infidelitatem simpliciter peccatum quia peccatum infidelitatis omne peccatum complectitur Cher. and in effect to renounce all duty and allegiance to him Suitable whereunto is the observations of a learned Man upon that place Joh. 16.8 9. Christ here says he calls unbelief Sin Simply and absolutly because that sin comprehends all sin in it O how great a sin then must this be 4. The neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin against a command of much love All Gods commands have love in them They are design'd by him for our good as the Scripture tells us but especially this command of his that we should receive and embrace his Son For what is this command but a command to us to be saved a command to us to be happy What is this but a commanding of us to Live for ever more to be eternally blessed in and with himself And O how great a sin must the transgression of such a command be Did God command us any hard or severe thing something that tended to our prejudice and not our happiness that were somewhat but when he commands us nothing but to be happy and to be happy in the best way O how great a sin must it be to transgress such a command 2. Consider the neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin which in a peculiar manner derogates from him and poures great contempt upon him and therefore a great sin The more contempt any sin poures upon Christ and the more it derogates from him the greater that sin is Now what sin derogates more from Christ or poures greater contempt upon him then the neglect and refusal of him offering himself to us does This is a sin which takes the Crown off from Christ's head and throwes it in the Dust It every way and in all resects poures great contempt upon him First this sin vilifies and poures contempt upon the Person of Christ Christ's Person is infinitely excellent and infinitely amiable and accordingly to vilifie and contemn his Person must be a great sin and contract great guilt and this the refusal of him does Hence call'd a treading under foot of the Son of God which Argues the highest contempt imaginable Heb. 10.29 Every refusal of Christ carries that Language concerning him in it Isa 53.2 When we see him there is no Beauty in him for which we should desire him He has neither form nor comliness in him He is a person of no worth no desireableness O what contempt is this to be cast upon Christ and how much does it derogate from him 2. This sin vilifies and poures contempt upon the work office and undertaking of Christ as Mediator upon all that he has done and suffer'd withall the riches of his Grace and Love manifested therein Hence 't is call'd as a treading of the Son of God under foot so an accounting his Blood a common and an unholy thing a thing of no worth no use no value no excellency Heb. 10.29 Great my Beloved Valde indignum est sanguinem Christi qui sanctificationis nostrae materia est
Christ is to come too Are there Tryals to come Christ is to come too Are there Difficulties and Temptations to come Christ is to come too Are there Storms and Tempests to come Christ is to come too And while Christ is to come fear not only close with him in a Marriage-Covenant and make him thine then come what will come come what can come all will be well Thus Christ is every way acceptable and infinitely acceptable and as ever Soul thou wouldst be indeed espoused to him dwell much in the study and contemplation of his acceptableness Labour to be possest with a deep and daily renewed sense of it which will sweetly draw and allure thy Soul to him VI. Wouldst thou indeed be espoused to Christ then be sure that thou pitchest thy Faith aright upon him and closest in effectually with him in a way of believing 'T is Faith that is both the great uniting and the great interesting Grace it unites us to Christ and interests us in Christ 'T is that as has been formerly declared and evinced that puts Christ and the Soul into the bosom and embraces of each others love and by which the Marriage-Knot is tyed between them If ever therefore thou wouldst be indeed espoused unto him look well to thy Faith see that thou dost pitch that aright upon him closing with him and embracing of him not by halves but throughly not feignedly but intimately and cordially But here some may say How may we do to pitch our Faith aright upon Christ so as to get conjugal Union and Communion with him Three things must be done in order hereunto which I desire you to look well to I. See that you wholly quit and renounce your selves II. Labour to get a right notion and apprehension of Christ III. Be sure to make a right choice of him being so apprehended I. Would you pitch your Faith aright upon Christ and be indeed espoused to him Then see that you wholly quit and renounce your selves Self and believing are at the utmost distance from and enmity with each other that is imaginable they are irreconcilably opposit each to other and where Faith takes place there Self vanishes and dies away and that in all its notions and with all its accomplishments Hence sayes Christ If any man will come after me believe on me be espoused to me let him deny himself Mat. 16.24 Let him deny himself renounce himself go out of himself let Self become nothing with him And indeed the Soul that believes in Christ does go quite out of himself he sees and feels himself to be a poor empty Nothing in all respects he sees and finds his Strength to be Weakness his Wisdom Folly his Beauty Blackness his Righteousness Sin his All Nothing And thus must we if ever we indeed believe and get Union with Christ O my Beloved one of the great things which stands between Faith and us Christ and us is Self This indeed is the Souls Darling the first Born as one calls it of his Love and Delights and he is loth to part with it but part with it he must and renounce it he must or he can never believe aright nor is he ever like to have any part or lot in Christ Every step out of Self is a step towards Christ and Faith in Christ and we must be divorced from the one if ever we be married to the other particularly you must quit and renounce Self especially in this three-fold Notion Self-Will Self-Worth Self-Interest 1. You must quit and renounce Self-Will He that indeed believes must in a sort have no Will of his own but his Will must be wholly melted and resigned up into the Will of Christ Hence the Church is said to be subject unto Christ Ephes 5.24 We are apt to live in our own Wills and are exceeding fond of and set upon having our Wills and that how cross and contrary soever they be to the Will of Christ But if ever we believe so as to get union with Christ our stubborn Wills must bow our proud Wills must down and must in all things as much as is possible be refer'd and resign'd into Christ's Will and good reason for his Will is the rule of goodness as well as the first cause of all things We must not think to say we are Lords but we must bow to Christ as the great and only Lord. 2. You must quit and renounce Self-Worth Self-Rightcousness you must renounce all Worth and Righteousness of your own in point of justification and acceptation with God 'T is a great word which I shall speak Mens duties living under the Gospel keep almost as many from Christ and believing as their sins do My meaning is as the love of sin keeps some so confidence in Duties a confidence in Self-Worth Self-Righteousness keeps multitudes of others from Christ and believing And the truth is my Beloved this piece of Self is the great Idol of the Soul and that which men are marvellously loth to quit and renounce and indeed 't is oftentimes so painted and as it were spiritualliz'd acted with so much state and set out with so many ornaments that it would make any one in love with it but yet this Idol so dear as 't is to the Soul must be denyed and renounced this Darling must be cast off and that with loathing and abomination in respect of Soul-saving if ever you believe and are united to Christ And the Soul that indeed does believe looks upon himself to be the poorest despicablest and undonest Creature in the World notwithstanding all he throws away not only his Rags but his Robes too all his Priviledges all his Performances all his moral Excellencies and Attainments as to a dependance upon them for Life and Salvation as you know Paul did Phil. 3.8 9. of which more hereafter The Soul's language in the Work of believing is such as this I am a poor vile empty nothing in my self I am nothing I can do nothing and I deserve nothing I am nothing but sin I can do nothing but offend and provoke God and I deserve nothing but frowns and death from him If ever I be saved 't is Free Grace must save me if ever I find favour in Gods sight it must be purely from Grace in Christ Alas I have walked contrary to God all my dayes my heart and life both have been full of eumity and provocation against him and my very Duties are damning my best Righteousness being as filthy Rags Isa 64.6 And indeed till it comes to this with us we are like to remain strangers to Christ and Faith in Christ I shall only say this further as to this particular That no men in the World are further off from Christ and union with him through believing then such as trust in their own Worth their own Righteousness Christ himself tells us That Publicans and Harlots do enter the Kingdom of Heaven before such Mat. 21.31 3. You must quit and renounce
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