World and forced out by the Power and by the Glory of Christ Then shall be this Glorious Solemnity of the Marriage of Christ Rev. 19. 1 2. And so on in the Chapter And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in Heaven saying Allelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lordour God For true and righteous are his Judgments for he hath judged the Great Whore What is the Great Whore but only False Christianity called Babylon the Great that hath defiled the Doctrine and defiled the Worship and defiled the Holiness of Conversation and defiled the Spirituality of the Enjoyment of Christ That 's the meaning of the Great Whore When therefore you see Christianity is All Spirit is All Heaven is All Life is All Purity and Truth and Glory and Babylon destroyed when you see that then Immediately shall the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb follow As you shall find in the 7th Verse Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine Linnen clean and white For the fine Linnen is the Righteousness of Saints And he saith unto me Write Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me These are the true Sayings of God That you may not say as the World is ready to do even the Sober World even that which is the Professing World of Christians are ready to say these things are nothing but Whimsie nothing but Fancy it is said These are the true sayings of God To shew us that the things shall certainly and must needs come to pass And it shall be when Christianity shall be no longer in Form and it shall be no longer in Rites and Ceremonies when it shall be no longer in Humane Institutions and Commands and it shall be no longer in the shining Grandeur of the World For Men cannot see the Glory of Christianity because they see such a Glister of this World But all this must go off and what is Glorious indeed must come in its place It shall be all Spiritual Pure and Divine And If any of us can Love such a Jesus if we have such upright Hearts and are drawn with the Savour of His Good Oyntments and such a Name as His be to us as Oyntment poured forth It is certain our State is Good we are of those upright that do indeed Love Christ But If we say Here 's nothing of the Bravery of this World Here 's nothing of the Wit and of the Pass-time and of the Gaudery and of the Retinue and what the World is so pleased with and meeting together to talk of nothing that signifies any thing but shrivells into meer Emptiness and into perfect Vanity and Froth I say except we have these things we don't know what to make of this Jesus and of this Christianity VVhy then we are but Foolish Virgins that while we pretend we have nothing but a Lamp and our Lamp at the proper time for its shining in Glory will go out And so suitably and agreeably to this you may see and I desire you may take notice of it how Scriptures do agree and Breath the very same thing The Apostle John in the Revelation speaks as Solomon who lived many Hundred Years before John yet they both came into the very same Spirit and into the very same Representation For you see that which Solomon Celebrates under a Song of Marriage a Song of Love The Apostle John does in the very same manner Represent I saw saith he The New Jerusalem come down That is the State of Saints in this High and Pure and perfect Enjoyment of Christ I saw it come down as a Bride adorned for her Husband Chap. 22. 2. I saw the Holy City New Jerusalem Which is nothing but the Pure and Holy and Perfect and Happy State of Saints I saw it coming down from God out of Heaven as a Bride adorned for her Husband And now the earnestness of all our desires should be after it As it is said ver 17. The Spirit and the Bride say Come And let him that heareth say Come That is let them who hear say so as struck with a Symphony even as one Lute Answers another the Lute upon the Wall Answers that is struck and Tuned and Play'd upon So every Soul Tuned aright by Grace doth sound alike with the Spirit and with the Bride when he does but hear it say Come It immediately saith Come Thus I have shew'd you that this Allusion Representation and Figure is a Figure Representing this great thing Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church and every Particular Soul the Bride or Lambs Wife For it is a wild sort of Notion that some people have of a Church Who by it Principally mean a kind of Jurisdiction and Authority and Power and a sort and sett of Men who should enjoy it They mean this by the Church they speak so much of Whereas the Spirit of God means by the Church chiefly Real Christians sound sincere-hearted Professors of Jesus Christ and Lovers of him The upright Love thee This is the meaning of a Church by Christ and not a kind of Authority and Jurisdiction that looks more like a Train and a Court of this World than any thing of the Power of Christianity and the Power of the Gospel I shall therefore come in proceeding in this Discourse to open to you these two things First That there is a State of this Marriage-Relation to Christ understand every thing as I hope you do spiritually and of the Power of Holiness in our Hearts and of the free Communication of the Righteousness and Grace and Spirit of Christ Till all appears in Glory understanding it thus I say There are two great Spaces Two Great States of it one that is Here and then the other that shall be in the Glory of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ And it hath pleased God to take great care that both these should be Represented to us First of all the State of the Soul here It is like an Espousal it is like a Betrothing it is like that that we call among us a Contract of Marriage And according to Scripture there is a distance between it and the Solemnity and Compleating and Consummation of the Marriage And this is very necessary for us to consider that now is the time of preparing and fitting Souls for that Great Solemnity And therefore we read of a Virgin Betrothed to an Husband before the Solemnity of the Marriage upon which Account to the Jews it was appointed by Moses that there should be at least Thirty days between the one and the other And they looked upon it as a Breach and an Infraction upon the Mosaick-Law If there was not such a Time of Preparation And some very Conscientious Ministers of the Gospel have been
of Christ be to me so as if be set me as a Seal upon his Heart as a Seal upon his Arm. This is the greatest Indenture the strongest obligation and uniting of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Soul and of the Soul thereby to him again for then Love is as strong as Death and it is cruel as the Grave The coals thereof are coals of Fire which hath a most vehement Flame Many Waters cannot quench Love neither can the flouds drown it If a Man would give all the substance of his House for Love That is to buy that Love off from Christ That 's the meaning of it If a Man would give all the Substance of his House where Love is once fixed to draw it off It would utterly be contemned Now this we should look to whether we have such a chast and Inviolable Love to Jesus Christ That all the substance of the VVorld would be utterly contemned whether Christ hath Set us as a Seal upon his Heart and Arm It is impossible then it should ever be taken off 3. The third is this when once we come to be thus united to Christ in the Chastness and Purity of our Affections in the sense of his Love to us and our Love to him Immediately there follows and all along there follows a Self-Resignation and Obedience And it cannot be otherwise For Love from a worthy Person hath a great command over those that are Loved It hath a mighty command on the Persons Loved to engage to Love again So that they are willing to do any thing to give up themselves to the will of the Person that Loves and is Loved upon his Love first And this is most due indeed to our Lord Jesus Christ Because he is the most excellent of all that can be proposed to us And he Hath Loved us and Washed us in his Blood And he thus wins us to his own Holiness Eph. 5. Saith the Apostle the Church is Subject unto Christ as unto the Head the Saviour of the Body It is in a perfect complyance with the Holy will of God Object If you ll say But how can we say this We find many Imperfections in our Obedience many Motions in our Hearts that are disloyal to Jesus Christ and are not at all according to the Obligations that lie upon us Answ Because we are going on to perfection in this state and because we find that we are under a Degree of Captivity and not perfectly freed Therefore the Soul cries out earnestly for the coming of the Great Bridegroom I shall but make Two or Three Expressions of Application and so conclude this Point 1. In the First Place I beseech you that you would consider what your Christianity is If it be not so strict an Adherence of your Souls and Affections to Christ as every wise and prudent and good Husband requires and expects from his Wife I say if it be not so how is it possible that you can say That Christ is mine and I am his And therefore look well to it and have a Jealous Eye as the Apostle said I am Jealous over you with a Godly Jealousie So we should be All Jealous over our own Hearts and the Motions of our Eyes to see whether there be such a Faithfullness to Jesus Christ as ought to be VVhen the Church is Subject to Christ as the most Excellent and Virtuous VVoman and VVife is to the most Honourable and Worthy Husband There is not any thing then that can or ought or is possible to come between our Souls and Jesus Christ And If we cry out Alas We are not able hereunto we do not find this I shall after by the Grace and Assistance of God press upon you Every such Discovery of the remaining defection and falseness of our hearts It should make us cry out earnestly Come thou Beloved of my Soul That there may be an entire and a perfect Union between me and thee Betwixt thy self and my heart This it should make us weary of the World and weary of Life and weary of the present State We cannot find our hearts come up as we desire they should But in the mean time there is a True and a Real and a Substantial Faithfulness and Purity and Chastity of Affections towards Christ in every Soul that is His That tho there are things that do not look so Resigning to Christ as they should do and so perfectly complyant Yet the Spirit is United to him As the Apostle speaks by way of Allusion to this very thing in the 1 Cor. 6. latter end But he that is Joyned to the Lord is one Spirit That is in regard of the present State of Flesh and Blood there will be some Wandrings of Heart But the Spirit is Stedfast and Jealous over those Unholy and Impure motions towards Sin Flesh and the World and it gathers it self back and it humbles it self And it bewails it self in regard of the Trayterousness of the Flesh and corrupt part wherein it does any way behave it self unworthily towards Jesus Christ that Saviour of it self He is the Saviour of the Body and therefore the Church is Subject to him And then 2. In the Second Place It should teach us very vehemently to look and cry out for that Time of free and full Enjoyments of Christ I wonder we should not be earnestly desirous when I consider the Reason the necessity and the great obligation which lies upon us I wonder we are not more earnest to dye and to be with Christ we are apt to think there is a State of the World ordained wherein we should have such and such Enjoyments and bear up our selves for a Time While in the mean time we forget Jesus Christ But hereafter it will be endeavoured to be made plain in this Discourse that either to go out of the Body and to be with Jesus Christ in Spirit Or to have the whole frame of this VVorld unpinn'd and dis-joynted one part from another That there may come that Glorious Kingdom of Jesus Christ and that Marriage of the Lamb and coming down of that New-Jerusalem And our selves as a part of it as a Bride adorned for her Husband is the Inward Groan of every Saint These things should be sweet to us And we should not be Gulp'd down by the present Temptations of the World which have so much force because our hearts are not steady to Christ O Let us look earnestly for that Love which many Waters cannot quench nor the Flouds drown And If we find that we cannot be as we would be We should therefore cry out Make haste O Beloved And appear upon the Mountain of Spices That we may be for ever quiet and Pure and Un-interrupted in our Love unto thee and receiving thine upon us SERMON III. On Matth. XXV Ver. 1. and so on to Ver. 13. Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto Ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom
riches of his Glory to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith I look upon this to be Oyl in the Vessel It is Christ abiding in the heart For tho indeed the Vessel is not the Fountain yet it speaks the Vessel closely conjoyned with the Fountain and the Fountain continually springing into 't Another place of Scripture that I would give you You know Faith and Love they are much required and insisted on in the Gospel now observe what the Apostle saith in the 1 Tim. 1. 14. And the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Where is the Treasure of Faith and Love It is in Christ Jesus it is never out of him the Spring of it is never out of him Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus The Spring overflows to the Vessel with Faith and Love but the Spring and the Fountain is Christ himself And so 2 Tim. 2 1. Thou therefore my Son be strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus Be strong in the Grace that is in him It is never out of him though it flows to the Souls and Spirits of Believers yet it is never out of Christ So that here is the Oyl in the Treasure of it it is when the Soul is united to Christ the Fountain of it here is the Oyl that is able to bear up For in two things I think the comparison lies that our Lord intended in this Parable between Grace and Oyl First It must needs be of such an excellent quality that it can bear up with the Glory of that Day And then In the Second place It must be so abundant that it can last with the Glory of that Day For if the Oyl be not of the high and excellent kind it will presently go out As you know the higher Light of the Sun it puts out the lower Light of Fire or Tapers that we have below so the Glory of that Day will put out any Light but only the Light of the Righteousness and Grace that is in Jesus Christ and none else will last There 's no Spring of Light but only that which comes from him Heb. 7. 16. who is after the power of an endless life It is only Christ that is Oil in the Treasure Therefore take the most Excellent Grace That 's the Point that I would endeavour to carry out to you Take the most Excellent Grace if it be out of Christ if it be only in the Person himself it is a Lamp that will go out but if the Vessel be at the Fountain Head and is joined to the Fountain then it is able to supply to the Glory of that Day And I shall represent it to you therefore by a History of Scripture that may serve as an excellent Parallel to Expound the Parable that I am now upon In 2 Kings 4. 1. There cried a certain Woman of the Wives of the Sons of the Prophets unto Elisha saying Thy Servant my Husband is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord and the Creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons to be Bond-men And Elisha said unto her What shall I do for thee Tell me What hast thou in the House And she said Thine Hand-Maid hath not any thing in the House save a Pot of Oil. Then he said Go Borrow thee Vessels abroad of all thy Neighbours even empty Vessels borrow not a few And when thou art come in thou shalt shut the Door upon thee and upon thy Sons and shall pour out into all those Vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full So she went from him and shut the Door upon her and upon her Sons who brought the Vessels to her and she poured out And it came to pass when the Vessels were full that she said unto her Son bring me yet a Vessel And he said unto her There is not a Vessel more And the Oil stayed Now this is the thing only That I would represent to you That to us that are in a miserable and needy and wanting condition and in danger to be Bond-Men and Bond-Women to the Wrath and Justice of God for ever Here is the Oil multiplied The Oil multiplies from the Fountain from the Infinite Grace that is in Jesus Christ that we may stand at that Day And therefore That which I would advise and press upon every one of us from this very Point is That above all things we would mind our being in Christ I shall endeavour to free it from all Objections that you may be ready to make before I close the Point But to give you a Parable or a Representation that is nearer and does indeed intend this very thing If you look into the Prophet Zachary you shall see what it is to have Oil not only in the Lamp but in the Vessel that is to have a continual supply For though indeed this Parable seems to go no further than Oil in the Vessel yet when we come to enter into it we must needs find that it must be Oil from the Fountain alone that can do us good Zach. 4. 1 2. And the Angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a Man that is wakened out of his sleep And said unto me what Seest thou and I said I looked and behold a Candlestick all of Gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his Seven Lamps thereon and Seven Pipes to the Seven Lamps which were upon the top thereof And two Olive-Trees by it one upon the Right side of the Bowl and the other upon the Left side thereof And it came to that The Sons of oyl as they are called v. 12. through the Golden Pipes empty the Golden Oil out of themselves into the Golden Bowl Now What 's the Meaning of all this Not by Might nor by Power but by my Spirit saith the Lord that 's the Meaning of all They Empty the Golden Oil out of themselves That Golden Oil by which our Lamps will bear up and shine at that Day it must come from those Sons of Oyl That is From those Olive-branches Both which are only a Representation of Christ's Fulness in his Righteousness and in his Spirit So that here is that that alone can bear us up and bear up the Shining of our Lamps in that Day of the Glorious Solemnity of the Marriage of the Lamb That which alone can bear us up is the Righteousness and Spirit of Jesus Christ Which are always Connected and Joyned one with another And Proportionable hereunto are other Similitudes The Wedding-Garment that we read of Matt. 22. which a Man not having on when he came to the Wedding he was sound Speechless That is Nothing but the Garment of the Righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Graces of his Spirit The King came in to see the Guests he saw there a Man which had not
of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear in the Presence of God for us We Translate it In the Presence of God but the Greek is much more Emphatical He Appears or is made apparent to the Face of God for us Now Christ is present with and makes himself appear to the very Face of God That Face that is Ten Thousand times Brighter than the Sun and that Dazles all Created Righteousness Christ appears to that very Face and he appears now in his own Blood to that very Face for us Herein is our great Comfort when we come before the Face of God Christ appears to that very Face in our Behalf It is further said Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the High-Priest Offer'd other Sacrifices For then must he often have Suffered since the Foundation of the World It may be you only read this with a General Thought of it and may not have considered the deep Sense and the Importance of it For I ask Why Christ must have Suffered often from the Foundation of the World if he had not been a Lamb slain once for All The Answer is If his Offering had not been an Offering once for All It must have arisen from the Insufficiency of it the Weakness and Imperfection of it to have done All at once and then he must as the Apostle says Have Suffer'd often since the Foundation of the World and not have Died only 1700 Years ago when the World was about 4000 Years old but he must have Suffer'd from the very Foundation of the World He must have begun there where the Sin of Man the Apostacy of Adam enter'd and he must still have been Suffering For the World could not have been born up but by the Efficacy of his Sacrifice and therefore it must still have been renew'd The World hath been variously divided the Old World before the Flood and then before the Law and since the Law till Christ It is capable of more Divisions but divide it as we can I do not see how any Division of it could have been without the Sacrifice of Christ nor how often each Division would have requir'd the Benefit of it if once Offering had not been for All but because once Offering of a Lamb without Spot by the Eternal Spirit doth Perfect and Consecrate for ever to the Enjoyment of God and Freedom from Wrath Them who are Sanctified from the Guilt and the Power of Sin And so it looks backward to all such before it as a Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World and forward to all who shall be to the Delivery up of the Kingdom to God All in All and even throughout Eternity supporting Saints in their Union to the Father and his Love by Himself Hence this Great High-Priest chose his Time in the End of the World shewing the Right of Christ to have put an end upon this Sunk Fallen Defiled World but that for Wisest and Holiest Purposes Vision and Prophesie in the Great Efficacy of his Redemption were Seal'd and now of necessity are near to be opened This was the Fulness of Time not far from the Fulness of Times or of all Time That is from the Kingdom of Christ Now on this Foundation of his Sacrifice for ever perfecting Them who are Sanctified we learn That as All is Deriv'd from Christ Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification Redemption So it is Conserv'd in him he hath for ever perfected as in himself For all still rests in him and depends upon Fresh Receivings from him as is most evident in this He went immediately into the Holy Places made without Hands there to appear in the Presence of God or according to the Force of the Greek there to be made Illustrious to the very Face of God for us So that notwithstanding what he hath done we could not dare to appear to the Face of God if he were not there for us appearing to that very Face receiving the Grace and Favour of it and Reflecting it on us And so in Sanctification in the strictest and most proper Sense of it It is continually Issuing from his Blood The Blood of the Everlasting Covenant sends forth the Efficacy of making perfect in every good Work working in us that which is well pleasing in his Sight Now then from hence arises a Necessity of continual Looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith in both Justification and Sanctification Take then as in relation to the Point of Justification our Faith our Love our Repentance our Charity our Holiness our Obedience and separate these from the Satisfaction Righteousness of Jesus Christ and how can they stand before God on any account whatever even in the Sense of All that do at all acknowledge Christ But beyond this How pitiful are they compar'd with Everlasting Righteousness with Infinite Righteousness Nay so Imperfect and so Polluted are they that they cannot so much as enter into any the least Consideration in the Point of Righteousness or Justification but they must needs before a Righteous and Holy God Themselves and the Persons in whom they are fall under Condemnation And in point of Holiness if you divide them from Christ They are like a Beam or a Ray cut off from the Sun it immediately vanishes and comes to nothing As therefore The Conscience truly enlightned will say Alas I cannot come before God with this and that which looks like Godliness Holiness or what we call Religion as in Prayer or other Duties I must have the Infinite Righteousness of Jesus Christ else I know my Lamp will immediately go out So in point of Sanctification even that Holiness we receive from Christ all its Excellency and Life is in Union to Christ If it be separate from him it is like a Drop out of the Fountain A Drop in the Fountain is considerable while it is in it If you separate it from it it presently is lost and comes to nothing My Son says he unto Timothy be strong in the Grace that is in Jesus Christ it must be in him Conserv'd in him Else it is as a Ray wandring from the Sun or a Drop from the Fountain or to speak in the Language of the Parable as a Lamp from the Vessel or even the Vessel from the Son of Oil The Sum of all is our dependance is on Christ alone our Union and Communion with him He is the Fountain he is the Great Son of Oil All Lamps go out not so united In Jehovah shall one say Have I Righteousness and Strength strength of Holiness also In him shall all his Seed be Justified and Glory Thus far I have endeavoured to fix and establish this Point to you And from which I hope and am assur'd I shall never find Reason to depart That the Oil in the Vessel is the Heart united to Jesus Christ by Faith The Having the Son and so having Life For he is the Great Son of Oyl the Branch made strong even the
that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom And the Friend of the Bridegroom rejoyceth when he hears the voice of the Bridegroom That is when he finds that he speaks to any Heart and draws any Soul to him How Happy would it be if in this Discourse the voice of the Bridegroom might be heard and discovered in any of our Hearts and that it might be known that this Preaching of Christ hath prevail'd at all upon any Soul This is to Rejoice in hearing the voice of the Bridegroom O therefore that this Joy might be fullfilled in you that hear and in me that am speaking to you But as he goes on he must encrease and I must decrease That is In all wherein we may seem to be serviceable to Christ or serviceable to the Souls of Men that must go off And then the Kingdom and Glory of Christ Himself that is It that must encrease And therefore for those that hear and those that speak to meet one another in that Great Solemnity and in that Great Glory and to find that all is gone off but only Christ How Glosious and how Blessed will this State be I shall therefore endeavour to open this Great Point in some measure unto you Though I know it is not possible to speak of it as it is to be spoken of But I shall therefore First Lay down this as a Great Scripture-Point as a Great Scrippture Truth That there is such a Marriage-Union betwixt Christ and his Church and betwixt Christ and every particular Soul In the second place I shall endeavour to shew you wherein it stands at the present First In the Opening of it I shall shew you That there is a State of it Now. And then That there is to be the Glory and the Heighth of this State in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Therefore I shall endeavour to shew you wherein it stands now And then In the third place How the Glory of it shall break out and in what Expressions the Scripture hath assured that to us And therefore that every one of us should look upon our Profession as a Fitting and a Preparation to that Great Solemnity of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I. The first Scripture by which I shall make it evident to you is indeed a Scripture full of Mystery full of Figure of Metaphor and Emblem and therefore it may not be so eaâ—ie to your Apprehension It 's that of the Song of Solomon It is an hard thing almost to advise you to the Reading of it because it lies hid under Veils It â—ies hid under curious Allegories and Representations But that is the very â—ense of it Chap. 1. 3. Thy Name is as Ointment poured forth therefore do the Virgins love thee Draw me we will run after thee The King hath brought me into his Chambers we will be glad and rejoice in thee we will remember thy Love more than Wâ—ne the upright love thee Ver. 3 4. All this it is but Metaphor Representing Christ as Drawing with the Savour of his Good Ointments As Persons make themselves Acceptable by those things that draw and win upon the Sense and so upon the Sense of Smelling This Savour of his Good Oyntment draws Souls to Christ That is those Rich Spiritual Excellencies in Him win upon the Souls of those that are indeed truly his that are indeed Virgins They draw the Love of Souls after Christ The Pardon of Sin His Righteousness His Resurrection in the Power of it His Death in the Power of it His Life in the Power of it The Glory of His Kingdom These Draw Souls Draw me we will run after thee And the upright love thee All that have Sincerity in the Profession of Christianity they truely love him And thus there is a Thread drawn throughout that whole Book till it comes to the very Glory of the Kingdom of Christ The last Words signifie it Make haste my beloved and be thou like a Roe or to a Young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices That is The State of the Kingdom of Christ is just like a Mount of the most Aromatick of the Sweetest Perfumes of Glory and Happiness This is the first Scripture that lays this great Point down before us And there are many Expressions especially in that Evangelical Prophet the Prophet Isaiah comparing the Union betwixt Christ and his Servants to a Marriage and to a Marriage that shall be solemnized at last in Glory But the second Scripture that I would give you concerning it is Ephes 5. Where the Apostle does draw or delineate this very whole Representation before us in the Beginning and in the Perfection of it And indeed he introduces the very first Institution and Appointment of Marriage to bring it all to this That there was in it a much more Glorious Purpose to prepare for and to Represent the Union betwixt Christ and his Church In speaking therefore of the Duty of Husbands to their Wives he enters into this Great Discourse saith he The Husband is the Head of the Wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church and he is the Saviour of the Body Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ so let the Wives be to their own Husbands in every thing And Christ as an Husband ver 25. He loved the Church and gave himself for it That he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word That he might present it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish For indeed as I shall presently shew you out of a Great Type of the Law of Moses in this Thing Christ takes those whom he must Beautifie He takes those whom he must every way fit for so great an Enjoyment as that of Himself He takes them out of Corruption out of Impurity and Defilement in a Miserable and Loathsome and Captivated State and Condition But he never leaves till he brings it to this That he may present them to Himself That he may take them to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And then saith he for this Cause a Man shall leave his Father and Mother and shall be Joyned to his Wife and they shall be one flesh This is a Great Mystery But I speak concerning Christ and the Church That is Here lies the Mystery the Great Point that I intend to present to you that close Union that is betwixt Christ and his Saints And it comes as I told you to that Gloty that He presents it to Himself a Glorious Church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And if you would know when this is It is at the time of the Kingdom of Christ at the time when he hath destroyed False Christianity that Christianity that is called in the Professors and Profession of it The Whore When that is quite taken away that is when all False Christianity shall be driven out of the
of the Judgment that there ought to be such a kind of Preparation And that it is agreeable to the Law of God for the Wisdom and Decency of such a Solemnity as Marriage I shall not insist upon that But it is very clear that such a thing was in use among the Jews and that the Law hath very great regard and respect to such a thing and that the Scripture is drawn out in such a manner of Expression Now It is nothing to speak of the Figure that 's not at all to my purpose But to let you know that there is a Time of Espousals of Sculs to Jesus Christ According to this and to Ground the Allusion to you upon it we find Matth. 1. 18. The Birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise When as his Mother Mary was Espoused to Joseph before they came together Before they came to dwell together and to have the Marriage Solemnized while she was his Spouse and so the Gospel History goes on So I say there is an Espousal of Souls to Jesus Christ and that is in the present State in the present State wherein we are under the Preaching of the Gospel wherein we are under the motions of the Spirit of Christ Here Christ begins and he Sanctifies and Cleanses by the Washing of Regeneration and by his Word that he may present every Soul There 's the method of it It begins here in a preparation And therefore we should consider whether we are under this preparation now for Jesus Christ Whether our affections are drawn to him Whether we hear the Voice of the Bridegroom speaking to us Whether we have found the Savour of the Good Oyntments of Christ and that it is not a Savour of Death As the Apostle speaks in that great Scripture 2 Cor. 2. 14. Now Thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the Savour of his knowledge by us in every place The Savour Osme that is the rich Perfume in every place as in Solomons Song saith he Because of the Savour of the good Oyntments The Virgins Love thee And draw me and we will run after thee Thy Name is Oyntment poured forth Now the Apostle speaks just as if he had taken his words out of that of Solomons Song Saith he Who maketh manifest the Savour or Perfume the Odour or perfume of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ For saith he We are unto God a sweet Savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish That is whether Men are taken and drawn and perswaded by this Savour Odour or Rich Perfume or not it is all one Suppose the Perfume does not go down into our Hearts and into our Thoughts and Affections yet it arises up to Heaven and there it is accepted If there be none of you that hear or I that speak at this Time Which I hope is far different who find the Savour and Excellency and Perfume of Christ and of his Doctrine and of the Knowledge of him yet still this Savour this Odour rises up to Heaven and God is pleased with the Savour tho we find nothing at all in it But saith he we are to some a Savour or Odour of Death unto Death That is if a Man saith I find nothing that you can say offering the strong scent and Knowledge of Jesus Christ I do not find the Attractive and VVinning Virtues and Powers of it They do not at all prevail upon me This is certainly unto Death A Savour of Death without Life and unto Death As it is said of natural Odours and Scents that they wrap and twist themselves about the Brain and win upon the sensitive Power of a Man and so they draw and please and allure In the very same manner the Knowledge of Christ VVhen we hear of a Crucified Saviour who dyed for our Sins and to bring us out of this Misery and Ruine it gives us the Savour it wraps it self and Twists and Twines it self about our Minds our Hearts and Affections and we cannot stir away from it because it is so excellent so desirable Here 's a Savour of Life here 's a quick and a powerful Savour But now on the other side when Men find not when they feel not any such thing They say this is a Dead Root It hath not the proper scent of such a Root and it is not such a Rich and an Admirable Oyntment as you speak of we find nothing at all in it If we speak of Eating and Drinking and Buying and Selling and Riding out and Enjoying and taking Pleasure and having great Entertainments of Company this we understand But to say Get into Christ mind Him get the Assurance of the Love of God in Him Pardon of Sin in Him We find nothing in this It is a Dead Savour Why then saith the Apostle It is to Death It argues all is to Death Or in another comparison if we should bring as Physitians say a strong Suffumigation to the Nostrils of a Person that is in a dangerous state as the way is to bring strong Scents just under their Nostrills those that are proper to stir up the Brain and no Effect follows This is to Death The man is a Dead man So when Christ is brought and the Doctrine of his Salvation to a Soul and there is nothing at all of Worth Effect or Efficacy This Death is unto Death Just as such a kind of Suffumigation brought to a Dying Person and no Effect argues That he 'll die presently if the strongest Savours and Perfumes have no Effect and the Brain is just ready to be laid asleep in Death So Conscience and Inward Sense which God hath planted in a man in order to Spiritual Life if they stir not at the Savour of Christ it argues a person left of God and he is under the Doom and Sentence of Death If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them who are lost Further To Represent the main Point we are upon to you to shew you in what a State we are now give me leave to make use of a Type in the Law of Moses in this Thing because it doth greatly Represent it and I make no doubt it was intended to this very purpose that I am now speaking of It is said Deut. 21. 10. When thou goest forth to war against thine Enemies I desire you to take notice that I speak only of it by way of Allusion and as a Type of this Thing When thou goest forth to war against thine Enemies and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands and thou hast taken them captive and thou seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a desire unto her that thou wouldest have her to thy Wife Then shalt thou bring her home unto thine house and she shall shave her Head and pare her Nails And she shall put off the Raiment of her Captivity from off her and shall remain in thine house and bewail
her and speak every way to her heart And then in the 19th Verse I 'll betroth thee unto me for ever Yea I 'll betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies All this indeed hath a peculiar Relation to the Church of Israel But it is true of every Soul and of every Spirit that Christ speaks to and draws to love him as its Husband and Spouse He doth allure and speak to their Hearts He doth hedge up their way If God see that any of His love the World or Relations or any Thing better than himself He 'll hedge up their way They shall not find their way Thus you see there is a Time of Preparation wherein Christ is fitting and preparing and drawing the Soul to Himself 2. In the Second Particular I will enlarge a little further upon this Point of our Espousals and draw to a conclusion and therein shew you That we may all discern wherein and whereby the Soul is thus drawn to an Union with Jesus Christ to this Spiritual Union with him 1. In the first place It is by the Souls seeing and finding that it is in a miserable and a Lost and a Captivated condition without him When it comes to find it self in the Hands of Justice In the Hands of Divine Wrath and Indignation When it finds it self in all its Impurity and in all its Unholiness without Him it comes then to desire him to receive his offer to unite with him Now this is not onely by way as some it may be have insisted upon it by way of preparation but it runs throughout all the present State A true Christian is continually looking upon himself as a Captive It is not a thing of preparation onely But it flows out from the Efficacious Grace and Spirit of the Lord Jesus That every Soul that is thus united to Christ it finds it does not know what to do with it self without him Nor that it is onely drawn by fear but as I shall presently tell you tho very Briefly it is drawn by Love to him But I say because we are Captives because we are brought out of another Land a Land of Darkness a Land of Impurity a Land not suitable to the Land of Promise because we are brought out of that Therefore there must be a continual consideration of the necessity that lies upon us And it is not Derogatory to our Love of Christ or to the Grace of Christ that our first State being a Captivated State is known to us to be such a Captive State And therefore to be made Free by such Rich Grace as that the Great Prince and Lord of Life should have a desire to us that he should look upon that of his own Grace which is all the Beauty that is in any that God hath Loved them with an Everlasting Love the Beautiful Person is onely he that God hath from an Eternal free Love and Grace when we were all together lost and undone in our selves look'd upon and made his Time in the proper season of being brought home to him tho we are found in all our Impurities To be the Time of Love How great is it Now when any one of us is under this Grace of God Jesus Christ looks upon us He beholds the choice of God he beholds the Love of God upon us And such a one is as a Beautiful Person in his Eye And so he takes care to Shave the Head and to Pare the Nails and to change the Garments of Captivity and to bring him home to himself This I say it is not preparation Hammered out and Anvil'd by our own strength Povver or Consideration but it is a first Davvn of the Grace of Christ of the Love of Christ through the Election and Choice of God upon us Here is the very Beginning of the thing For as I read to you out of Ephes 5. Christ Loves the Church first of all and then he Sanctifies it and Washes it with the Water and with the Regeneration of his â—ord and of his Spirit He first of all Loves it Who Loved the Church and gave himself for it His Love is like the first Love of Espousals of drawing the Soul into a Condition and State of Espousals to himself And so he Sanctifies and Washes it with Water and Regenerates and Renews it and takes away the Prison-Garments the Captive-Garments Which it may be look Beautiful to those that are yet Ensnared They look upon all the Enjoyments and Pleasures of the World to be the greatest Bravery But now when Christ comes to shew them what their State is then they come to cry out at the first and so ever after as the Apostle Rom. 7. 24. O wretched Man that I am Who shalt deliver me from this Body of Death And you see he speaks of it in the very same Language ver 23. I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in any Members It is a continuing sense on every Soul in Christ 2. The second thing wherein this is shewed It is in drawing the sincerest and Purest and Chastest Love of the Soul unto Jesus Christ When Christ by his Spirit in his word and by the Friend of the Bridegroom that is by the Preaching of the Word of Christ when he draws the entirest affections of Souls to himself Shewing his Love to them in the Pardon and Forgiveness of Sins he draws their hearts entirely and unitedly to himself He does therefore first of all as it were send the Soul the Wedding Garment of his own Righteousness He sends it a Robe a Vest from himself of his own Righteousness and of the sanctification of his own Spirit And this enkindles and enflames the Love of the Soul unto Jesus Christ The Apostle speaks in this Language in the 2 Cor. 11. 1. VVould to God you could bear with me a little c. For I am Jealous over you with a Godly Jealousie For I have Espoused you to one Husband that I may present you a chast Virgin to Christ The Preaching of the Gospel and the drawing of Souls it is the Espousal of them to one Husband and presenting them a Chast Virgin That is with undefiled and Inviolable affections to Jesus Christ When the Love of the Soul is thus drawn to him united to him The upright as I said to you before Love him And when once this Love of the Soul to Jesus Christ is indeed kindled where it is sincere and indeed kindled to him O how strong and how vehement is it It is true it is from the Love of Jesus Christ made known to it Even as you know Love draws and wins Love back again upon it self This is admirably set out to us in the eighth Chapter of the Song of Solomon Set me saith she as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm. Let the Love
was in Man He knoweth our Thoughts afar off But now this is a Knowing as Scripture speaks afar off in another Sense He knows our Thoughts long before we conceive them He tells to Man his Thoughts that hereafter will arise up and how they will rise up As it is said in the Prophet Ezekiel concerning Gog and Magog Thoughts shall come up in thee I tell thee long before thou camest into Being God knows our Thoughts at the uttermost Distance But he knows with Approbation all those that are his And therefore that may be the Sense of the Form and Expression of being known of God If any Man Love God he is known of him If any Man be in the Way of Holiness and Righteousness God knows him He knows him with great Approbation For so Knowledge in Scripture does several times speak Psal 1. 6. For the Lord knoweth the Way of the Righteous But the Way of the Vngodly shall Perish The Lord knoweth That is He takes delight to Contemplate as Men desire to know a Thing they like and Love they search into it by Study Meditation and Contemplation The Lord knoweth the Way of the Righteous He knoweth it so as to delight in it Thou most upright doest weigh the Path of the Just As it is said Isa 26. A Third Way of Knowing is The acknowledging of Persons at the Day of the Marriage-Feast He knows them that is he will confess them As Christ saith Whosoever denieth me before Men him will I deny I will not know him And I will confess his Name If any Man takes care to watch and to keep his Garments and not to defile them saith Christ I will know that Person I will Confess him I will not Disown him I will not say I do not know him but I will acknowledge him at that time Rev. 3. 5. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in White Raiment And I will not blot out his Name out of the Book of Life but I will confess his Name before my Father and before his Angels And therefore here we may find why Christ useth this Expression I know you not Because the Persons that were lost they were not known to God in his Eternal Love and Grace from Everlasting And They were never approved by Christ even in their very professing him And Lastly Christ is ashamed to own such Acquaintance when they say to him Lord Have we not been often with Thee in thy House in thy Ordinances in Prayer and Preaching and Hearing and in the Lord's Supper and in all the Duties of thy Worship Lord Do'st thou not know us Can'st thou not Remember we were at such and such a Time Hearing and Receiving the Lord's Supper and Praying unto Thee Can'st thou not Remember this And Christ is ashamed that ever it was so That we not having departed from Iniquity that we could ever make a Pretence to him That we could ever say That he had any thing to do with us or we with him And so I have dispatcht the First Particular to open to you the Sense of these Words I know you not I come to the Second And that is of the Persons of whom it is said I never knew you I know you not They are Virgins tho foolish And certainly it speaks the highest Reach that any one can make without True Grace that is spoken of here This must be said and acknowledged though I confess it is one of the Dreadfullest Things that I know in Scripture and the most Discouraging as it may seem in the Ways of Religion That Christ should say of Persons that have been Virgins That he doth not know that there hath been such a particular Acquaintance and as it were Endearment between Christ and them They owned themselves to him and to be his And yet for all that he should say I know you not They are the highest Attainers in Christianity and in the Profession of God in Natural or in Revealed Religion and yet Christ says I know you not I 'll give you a little clearing of this to you a Lustre of this Truth upon your Minds in very great briefness First therefore I would consider Persons that are Profane and Wicked and that live loosly under the whole Heavens Let their Religion be what it will They that are Cruel and Unjust and Unmerciful They that are Intemperate and Sensual and Debauched They that are Profane and Contemners of God according to the Light that they have let it be what it will it is no wonder that Christ should say to them I know you not I never knew any of you You by your Profession of the Name called Mahometanism or by the Name of this or that Paganism What have I to do with you As God saith to his People You have I known above all the Families of the Earth c. As if God should say I do not know the Heathen or Pagan or obstinate Jew Because he never came into the Profession of my Name But now one would think the Name of Christian should Envelop should gather all within Salvation and Happiness that they that Name the Name of Jesus Christ as a Saviour and Redeemer and Call upon it should be Saved But yet even among Christians there are such kind of Persons as are Blasphemers Common Swearers Common Drunkards Common Impure Persons Covetous Extortioners Unmerciful Unjust Idolaters And of these it is no wonder Christ should say to such I know you not Even Natural Conscience will Justifie Christ in that in saying I know you not But it seems hard when Persons professing the Name of Christ Sober that had lived better than others when they have not an Acknowledgment and owning from Jesus Christ And therefore it is worthy our Consideration that we read of Matth. 19. of the young Man that had done every thing when the Commandments were reckoned up and repeated to him saith he All these have I kept from my youth He was so sober a man so just a liver what lack I yet says he Here was a plain good Liver a man of a good Life You know it is very much spoken of a Good Life a Good Life And it is true it ought to be required and every one ought to mind this of himself nothing can be spoken in derogation or diminution to it in it self And yet this young man that had kept all this and was so good that Christ looked upon him and loved him He saw a great amiableness and loveliness in his Person and Deportment And yet for all this Christ intimates very severely he animadverts and makes very harsh notes upon this Person when Christ proposes to sell all he went away sorrowful And Christ makes this sharp Remark upon him With great difficulty such men shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Verily I say unto you it is hardly possible that a rich man should enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Nay though he be such a good Liver If a